Just Another Day
by Deadly Beauty
Summary: A collection of short stories featuring Krillin and 18, with special appearances from their family and friends. Each chapter is inspired by a writing prompt and is it's own self contained story, the topics of which range from sweet to sexy, funny to heartbreaking and everything in between. [Finished prompt #16 now added!]
1. Nightshift

A/N: Hey all! Lately I have been working on a series of short K/18 writing prompts people have been submitting to me on my Tumblr (link in my bio) and I thought it would be fun to share them with you all here. Mostly they are just small 'slice of life' type pieces but I have enjoyed writing them in between working on my main story, and I hope you will enjoy them too!

* * *

 **NIGHTSHIFT**

When Krillin said he was going to become a police officer, 18 had imagined it was going to be all sexy uniforms and playing with handcuffs. Instead it was unpaid overtime and paperwork. So. Much. Paperwork.

He wasn't even allowed to bring the handcuffs home with him.

The worst part of his new career though, was nightshift. Krillin always said he didn't mind it, that it wasn't really so bad once you got used to it. He joked that he was already used to being up all night because Marron had been such an awful sleeper when she was a baby.

While that was indeed true, Marron's sleeping habits as a baby had been nothing short of traumatic for both of her parents, it didn't change the fact that for 18, going to sleep at night with a cold, empty patch of bed beside her would always be lonely and miserable.

Even the hope of spending any time together during the day was nothing but a joke. It was just after 8am when Krillin came through the front door, looking tired and dishevelled. Marron was finishing up her breakfast and he had just enough time to kick off his shoes and put down his phone, badge and watch before the three year old came careening down the hallway, arms outstretched, ready to launch herself at her daddy for a hug.

"Daddy! I missed you!"  
"I missed you too, little bug."  
"Did you catch any bad guys at work?"  
"Not last night."

He sat down at the table and propped Marron up on his knee. 18 placed some toast down for him, leaned over and lovingly kissed the top of her husband's head, "Marron, go and put your shoes on please, it's time to go to day care."

She didn't particularly like the idea of her only child being out of her sight, but it had only taken a few night shifts for them to realise it was going to be a necessary evil if Krillin was going to be able to get any sleep during the day. Marron was an energetic kid, and being quiet was not one of her strong skills. It was only a 10 minute walk down the street, but by the time 18 got back from dropping Marron off, Krillin was in bed. She wouldn't see him again until he emerged for dinner. Yep, nightshift sucked.

* * *

It wasn't that there was nothing for her to do during the day, not at all, being the mother of a toddler kept 18 plenty busy. Her laundry basket, for example, seemed to be a bottomless pit, for every item she washed, dried, ironed, and folded two more seemed to appear. It didn't make any sense.

Sometime in the early afternoon 18 tiptoed into the dark bedroom she shared with her husband, a pile of freshly folded laundry balanced skilfully on one arm. She quickly went to work putting away the clean clothes and setting aside a crisp, fresh uniform for Krillin to wear to work later that night.

"Hey there hot stuff."

The sound of her husband's sleepy voice made a blush race up 18's cheeks. Even now, after 5 years of marriage and a baby, he still made her weak at the knees.

"Hey yourself," she gently shut the closet and turned around to lean against its doors. "Sorry I woke you."

Krillin smiled at her, his eyes were still half closed and he had a shocking case of bed hair, but as always, 18 got swept away by him. The way he looked at her. That silly, groggy grin that only she got to see. She fell more in love with him every day.

"It's okay," he yawned, and stretched his arms above his head, before flipping back the covers and patting the empty spot beside him. "I'm cold," he pouted, "come warm me up?"

"I can turn the heating on, if you'd like?" But even as the words were leaving her mouth, 18 was already moving across the room and slipping into the bed.

"Much better," Krillin tossed the covers back over them, and snaked his arm around 18's waist, pulling her in closer to him, until their foreheads were resting against each other. "I'm warmer already."

"You're an idiot" 18 joked.

"You're amazing." Krillin replied, and then kissed his wife before she had a chance to protest his proclamation. It was a slow, lingering kiss and 18 could feel the question behind it. She knew she should let him sleep, but her willpower was quickly being trampled by her desire, and so when Krillin tipped her over onto her back, deepening their kiss, she was putty in his hands.

"You should nap with me every day," Krillin said with a grin as he lay soft kisses along 18's jaw and down her neck. His slick moves earned a long, content sigh from the pretty blonde beneath him, which was all the encouragement he needed to continue.

"This isn't napping, you know?" 18 tried to put up one final fight as Krillin's lips found their way back to hers, and his hand disappeared under her shirt, but it was useless. They were 7 nightshifts into a 14 night stint. It had been days since she had spent any real time with her husband, since she had been this close to him. Her body was craving him. She missed him.

"Mmmm, I know. This is way better."

Leaning back, Krillin rested his chin in the palm of his hand and propped his elbow up on the mattress, he looked down at 18 in absolute awe. He would never, ever understand what he had done so right in his life to have ended up here. He was the luckiest man alive, he was sure. Slowly, he let his fingers trace lazy trails across 18's body, he could feel her muscles quivering with anticipation at his every touch, but Krillin wasn't one to rush these things, he always enjoyed the slow burn, and with 18, it was always worth the wait.

He found her hand under the blankets and linked her fingers through his. They fit together perfectly, as if they were the two matching pieces of a puzzle. No one would ever fit together as completely as they did. Fingers still entwined, Krillin held 18's hand up to his face and gently kissed the back of her palm. He ran his thumb over the smooth gold of her wedding band. Remembered the hours he had spent in the jewellers, searching for the perfect engagement ring for his bride to be. It hadn't existed. In the end he'd custom designed the sparkly jewel that took pride of place on her finger himself.

She was flawless, down to the very last detail. "You have such pretty hands," he noted and kissed each one of her fingers, suddenly captivated by hands that were strong enough to bring a prince to his knees, and gentle enough to sooth their tiny infant daughter. He rubbed his fingertips against hers, enjoying the feeling of her silky smooth skin against his own, which was rough and calloused, and not pretty at all.

"Hmmm," he studied them for a moment longer before letting go and brushing some hair back off of 18's forehead, tucking it tenderly behind her ear, in that way he knew she liked. "Now, where were we again?"

A devilish grin sprung to life on 18's face, filling Krillin with giddy anticipation. She pressed her palm into his chest. He played along and let her push him onto his back. She leaned over and kissed him, gently prising apart his lips with her tongue. "I was just about to show you everything these pretty hands can do."

* * *

A/N: I'd love to know what you thought of this little piece with a review. They always mean a lot to me and are a great way to help me improve my work. If you would like to submit your own prompt to me, or follow my writing adventures, I have posted the link to my Tumblr in my bio!

Until next time my loves,

Deadly Beauty


	2. Shopping

A/N: Here is the next installment in my prompt series. The prompt for this one was: "So you think I'm hot?" with bonus point for me if it was 18 thinkning Krillin was hotinstead of the usual scenario of the other way around. This is what I came up with and I hope you enjoy. As always, a review, like or follow is very much appriciated.

* * *

 **SHOPPING**

"Are you almost done in there?"

 _What the hell is taking him so long? Is this really what it's like when I make him wait outside change rooms? Why does he go along with this?_ 18 rapt her fingers impatiently against the arm of the uncomfortable plastic chair she was sitting in. This was all Bulma's fault. The Capsule Corp. heiress was throwing herself a ridiculously lavish birthday party next week, because _of course_ she was, and Krillin had nothing to wear. And not the type of 'nothing to wear' where he actually had an entire wardrobe full of perfectly fine things to wear, but the type where he literally didn't own a single piece of formal, or even semi-formal attire.

From the other side of the curtain which, in true changing room style, was just a teensy bit too short to actually cover the entire booth, 18 heard a strange array of grunting, squirming and zipping noises. She looked up curiously.

"Yeah…. Almost done…. There!" The curtain swished open and Krillin stepped out of the cubical for the obligatory pre-purchase fashion show.

 _Oh… hello!_ All of a sudden 18 understood _exactly_ why Krillin did this with her.

Her eyes widened just a little, and she had to do a double take as she watched him strut up and down the hallway, modelling the outfit. Was that Krillin? Her Krillin? Seriously? She tried to swallow her shock, but her mouth was suddenly bone dry.

As Krillin inspected himself in a mirror that was at least twice the size he was, 18 came to stand behind him. "What do you think, babe?" he asked as he adjusted the collar of the stiff shirt and combed his fingers back through his scruffy hair.

What did she think? Right now she didn't think anything. It was as if her brain had just up and checked right out of her skull. As she took in Krillin's reflection in the mirror, she could feel her heart thumping in her chest. This was a man whose entire wardrobe consisted of board shorts and brightly coloured singlets. Aside from his training gi, she'd never seen him wear anything else. And now here he was, dressed in a crisp, sky blue business shirt, which was neatly tucked into a pair of dark navy blue dress pants. The outfit was finished off with a thin navy tie and a pair of brown leather shoes.

"Needs a belt," she finally managed to mutter a response, and then she quickly scurried out of the change rooms before Krillin had a chance to notice her strange behaviour.

He was still standing in front of the mirror when she returned a moment later, examining his silhouette. 18's eyes were immediately drawn downward. Where had he been hiding that booty all this time?! She knew he had a good physique and excellent muscle definition, it was nothing that she hadn't seen before, they'd been dating for almost a year, after all. But there was just something about the way these perfectly tailored clothes framed his body, the way they clung to his muscles and his… behind; that was working for 18 in a way she had _not_ expected.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" A sales woman whose arrival 18 had totally failed to notice piped up, her voice oozing with fake cheerfulness. "The belt?" she held out her hand expectantly, waiting for 18 to pass it over. "Ma'am?"

"Huh?" 18 tore her eyes away from Krillin's bum. Had they noticed she'd been staring? She blinked and shook her head before thrusting the belt into the woman's hand with slightly more force than was really necessary. Someone must have turned the heat in here way up, because all of a sudden, her face was burning.

Once he'd adjusted the belt, Krillin posed in front of the mirror again, twisting and turning to make sure he'd checked every angle. All the while, the sales lady gushed over how _peeeeerfect_ everything looked on him, and how the belt really brought the entire outfit together. "I don't know," he thought aloud, "I'm just not convinced-"

"We'll take it!"

Both the shop assistant and Krillin turned to look at 18 with the same curious expression on their faces. "The belt?" the woman asked.

"The shirt, the belt, everything. We'll take it all." Finally 18 managed to regain her composure and string an entire sentence together, taking back control of the situation. She turned her focus to Krillin, catching his reflection in the mirror and choosing to ignore the thinly concealed glee plastered all over his face.

"Okay," he agreed with a laugh and a shrug, "we'll take the lot!"

* * *

"So," Krillin knew he was probably going to get in trouble for pushing it, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up, "are we talking about what happened in there yet, or…." He swung his shopping bag of goodies back and forth on his wrist to make extra sure 18 saw it.

"I don't know what you're talking about." 18 avoided looking down at her stupid little boyfriend. Instead she charged ahead through the crowds of people meandering through the mall at such a pace that Krillin almost had to jog to keep up with her.

"Awww, c'mon babe," he teased, calling after her, "Do you think I'm hot?"

"Do you think I'm hot?" he asked again as they made their way through the car park.

"You don't have to deny it, you know," he said as they sat in traffic on the highway. "You think I'm hot!"

"You're only making it worse by ignoring me," he looped around her in the sky as they flew over the vast and empty ocean, "I saw you checking out my butt in the mirror. You think I'm hot!"

"Argh!" 18 came to a screeching halt mid-air, "and so what if I do?" she asked, feeling the warmth returning to her cheeks.

"Do you?" Krillin asked, letting himself drift slowly towards her, until there was hardly any space between them at all. He was loving this, it wasn't very often he was able to get the upper hand on 18, and he'd never imagined he'd be able to get under her skin like this. "Do you think I'm hot?" he smiled brightly while trying his best not to laugh.

"Good lord," 18 muttered as she gave in. "Yes! Okay?" she grabbed the scruff off Krillin's teeshirt and pulled him in for an unexpected kiss. "Yes, I think you're hot! Are you happy now?"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Krillin started to laugh. "Very!" he said. This whole situation was just too bizarre to even begin to make any sense of, so he decided to just go with it. 18 rolled her eyes and smiled, mumbling something to herself about how much of an idiot he was. Krillin quickly kissed her again, taking advantage of the playful mood, before they took off towards home.

"You realised that I'm never going to let you live this down, right?" asked Krillin as they looped down towards Kame Island.

"I have no doubt," 18 replied, shaking her head. "Hey. Where are you going?!"

Krillin was sprinting up the beach at full pace. "Are you kidding?" he asked over his shoulder without slowing down. "I'm going upstairs to get changed! Are you coming?"

Half a second later, the beach was empty.

* * *

A/N: Once again, I hope you liked this. I had a really fun time writing this one, it was a cool little prompt! Please leave a review if you feel so inclined. Don't forget, the link to my tumlr is in my bio, where you too can leave me a prompt if you'd like!

Best wishes,

D.B


	3. Police Academy

A/N: Here is the next installment in the prompt series for you! The prompt for this one was "I miss you." Hope you like what I came up with!

Also to the reviewer 'Rhadamir' who left such a next review for me on prompt two, I just wanted to say thank you! I wanted to reply personally, but you are on anon so I couldn't, but your kind words really really meant a lot to me! So thank you!

* * *

 **POLICE ACADEMY**

Argh! Where was that damn phone?!

Frantically, 18 pushed her way through boxes and piles of unorganised chaos. She scrambled on her hands and feet, crawling through a maze of displaced belongings, trying to follow the high pitched ringing that was echoing obnoxiously through the cavernous room.

At last, she uncovered her mobile, "Hello?!"

"Babe? It's me. Are you there?" The voice on the other end was crackly and distorted.

"I'm here," 18 breathed a long sigh of exhaustion and relief. "Your line is very faint. Where are you?"

"Hiding in a broom closet."

"Krillin!" 18 tried to hide her amusement behind a stern tone of voice, but it was useless. Krillin could read her like a book, even from the other side of the country.

"I don't have long, there's fifteen guys in line behind me to use this phone. I just…" he trailed off for a moment, "I just wanted to hear your voice. How's the move going?"

"Great." Repositioning herself on the floor so she could rest against the wall, 18 looked around at the stacks of boxes and flat pack furniture, all of which had been hastily dumped in what would eventually become their living room. Everything they owned, the entire life they had built together – was contained inside these boxes. It was a strange feeling to just pack up your whole life and move it somewhere else; everything was going to be different now. "I hope you'll like it."

This had all happened so hastily. To 18, it seemed as if one minute they were quietly living out their life in tropical island bliss, and the next, Krillin was away at police academy. And somehow she'd found herself tasked with the enormous, no pressure job of finding them a new home in Satan City - which was where Krillin would be posted once he graduated, and getting them all moved and settled in. She'd never even been to Satan City! It had been stressful to say the least.

"Babe, we could be living on the moon for all I care." 18 had to listen in as closely as possible to make out her husband's voice through the bad reception of the broom closet. "As long as you and Marron are there, it will be perfect. Is she with you?"

"No, she's spending the night with Chichi. She was so excited to see Goten."

Krillin listened with fascination as 18 took him on an imaginary tour of their new home, the sound of her voice was music to his lonely ears. She described to him the hardwood floors and the light, airy kitchen. The big backyard complete with cubby house for Marron to play in and the spare bedroom that might be perfect for the baby sister she'd been pining for. He was especially interested to hear about the ensuite bathroom they now had, and the fact that it came with both a spa bath _and_ a double sized shower.

Trailing off, 18 closed her eyes and listened to Krillin breathing down the line. She knew the he was doing the same, and for that brief moment he didn't feel quite so far away. "Do you miss me?" he eventually asked, somewhat timidly, because he knew either way the answer was going to break his heart.

18 hesitated before she answered the question, not because she had to ask herself if she missed him or not, but because she needed to take a moment to think about how to actually translate her feelings into words. She wasn't even sure there _were_ words that could adequately express how she felt right now. "You have no idea," she muttered. "It's been 7 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 34 minutes and 12 seconds since I last saw you. Not that I've been counting."

There were no family visits allowed during training, and official phone calls were only allowed on Sundays, it was something to do with building up mental toughness or some such nonsense. But someone had managed to smuggle in a mobile phone, and it had taken the cadets all of an hour to organise a roster of carefully planned illegal phone time that ensured everyone got a short, weekly turn before they had to try and sneakily recharge the battery.

"Is that all?" Krillin asked, "It feels like forever. I miss you too. So much."

Behind his voice, 18 heard a dull thudding. She knew what it was and it made her heart lurch up into her throat. She wasn't ready yet. Once this phone call was over she was going to be all alone in this strange house that didn't yet feel like home. Without her husband or her daughter, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. The last time she had spent the night without either of them beside her, she had been an entirely different person to who she was now; a person who she did not want to be ever again.

"Time's up. I gotta go."

"No," 18 gripped her phone a little tighter, she was desperate to hold on to Krillin for just a minute longer. "Not yet." Her eyes started to sting. This house was so cold and empty, the thought of spending the night here alone was frightening.

"Give Marron a kiss for me," said Krillin, hoping that the crappy reception was masking the quivering in his voice. He could say goodbye a billion times and it would never get any easier. "I love you."

"I love you too," 18 sniffed, and Krillin knew he had to get off the line before he broke down completely. It was already taking every ounce of restraint in his body to keep from sneaking out at night to fly home, so that he could crawl into bed beside his wife. Hearing her cry would be his undoing and he knew that if he went to her, he would never be able to leave. They had both sacrificed so much already for him to be here, hiding in this closet, talking on this contraband phone, and right now, Krillin was only half a heartbeat away from throwing all that hard work away and rushing to 18's side. The pain of missing her was too real and he wasn't sure how much more he could stand.

"I have to go." If he didn't hang up right now, he would be defeated, and all the torture they had endured for the past seven weeks would be for nothing. "I love you so much," he said and quickly ended the call, knowing that so much as hearing 18's voice again would push him over the edge.

"Wait!" yelped 18, but it was too late, Krillin had already hung up. All that was left now was the lonely ringing of the dial tone and a big, Krillin shaped hole in her heart.

* * *

A/N: So thats the end of that prompt. I'd really love to know what you thought of it in a review. Compliments are awesome and constructive criticisim helps me improve my craft! If you'd like to leave me a prompt, head on over to my tumblr where you can find the rules for submitting!

Until next time,

Big Love

D.B


	4. The Stranger

A/N: Another finished prompt for the collection. I hope you guys are enjoying reading these as much as I am enjoying writing them! For this one the prompt was a classic K/18 trope; "Krillin asking 18 why she stays with him when she could do so much better." So some real self-doubty, anxiety filled stuff, but I think I managed to do it in a way that was still quite happy to read. Let me know what you think!

~D.B

* * *

 **THE STRANGER**

"Is this seat taken?"

"Yes. Go away."

The bluntness of her rejection should have been more than enough to get 18's disinterest across, but the newcomer to her party of one was either to stupid, or to stubborn to take the hint. He continued to linger around her table, shuffling from one foot to the other, preparing to make his move. "I think you were saving it for me," he said as he slipped down into the empty seat. "It would be a crime for a pretty little thing like you to ever eat a meal alone."

"Hmmm." 18 placed the menu she had been reading down on the table and pushed her sunglasses up her face to rest on top of her head, revealing the bluest pair of eyes you have ever seen. She smiled sweetly at the stranger sitting opposite her, leaned in a little closer to him and said "No, the real crime will be what I do to you if you don't get up and walk away right this second."

"Aww, come on." The stranger was persistent. "Don't be like that." He pulled his wallet from his pocket, making sure that 18 saw that it was bursting with cash. "This one's on me. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Leave. Now." Patience was not something that 18 had a lot of, and right now she was quickly running out. "I don't want to make a scene in front of all these people."

They were sitting at a busy sidewalk café which looked out onto a sun soaked beach, surrounded by people laughing and talking amongst themselves. 18 didn't particularly want to ruin all of their lunches, but she would if this moron didn't take her advice and scram. "Why are you still here?"

The stranger licked his lips greedily and moved in closer, "I love it when a girl plays hard to get."

"Is everything okay here?"

"Everything is perfectly fine, Krillin," 18 turned to greet the aforementioned man, who was holding a tall bottle of water in one hand and two drinking glasses and some cutlery in the other. She smiled warmly at him. "He just wanted to know if this seat was free. I let him know that it wasn't." she swivelled back to the stranger, and locked her dangerous gaze intently on him, "and so he was leaving."

The stranger looked back and forth between Krillin and 18. A look of bewilderment crept across his face as he slowly put two and two together, and he leapt up from the table. "Are you kidding me?" he shouted, attracting the attention of several nearby tables. "You're with him?!" he flung his arm in Krillin's direction, not even bothering to look at him.

18 didn't even flinch. "So?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair. She stared the stranger dead in the eyes, "What of it?"

"Bah," admitting defeat, the stranger threw his hands in the air in frustration and turned to leave, but not before stopping to deliver a final cruel blow to his opponent. "This world is a fucked up place, you know. When someone like you," he jabbed Krillin in the chest, "can land someone like her."

* * *

It was many hours later, well after dark, when Krillin found himself sitting out on the roof of the Kame House, under a blanket of glittering stars. The words of the stranger from the café echoed through his head on constant repeat _. 'How could someone like you land someone like her?'_ It was a thought he had had on his own too many times before, but he had always managed to push it to the back of his mind, writing it off as paranoia. After today though, he knew there was no more denying the truth.

Behind him, he heard a shuffling as 18 pushed open their bedroom window and climbed through, joining him out in the cool night. He'd been avoiding her all afternoon, avoiding what he knew had to come next. He wasn't ready yet.

"Is everything alright?" 18 asked as she settled down beside Krillin on the roof. It was colder out here than she had anticipated and her skin quickly puckered with goosebumps. "You haven't been yourself all afternoon."

The fact that he didn't respond right away was reason enough to cause 18 alarm, but she held steady and waited while he stared out into the inky black ocean and sorted out his thoughts, she had all night.

Eventually Krillin sighed and turned to face her. "Why are you here?" he asked, the heaviness in his voice let 18 know this was a real question and not some kind of a cruel, ill-conceived joke. "Why are you with me?"

The heavy sombreness in the air threw 18, she had no idea where this menacing doubt of Krillin's had come from or how she was supposed to respond to it. "I don't understand," she replied truthfully, everything between them had seemed great until now. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, why me? Why, when you could have your pick of literally any guy on this planet, are you here with me?"

"Krillin…"

"Is it because you feel like you owe me? For not using that remote? Or using a wish on you? Because I didn't do any of that to try and make you feel guilty or obligated, and if that is the reason, then you shouldn't be here."

18 shook her head in utter bemusement, hoping that the pain she was feeling in her heart wasn't showing on her face. "What has gotten into you today? Where is this coming from?"

"I just…" Krillin's shoulders slumped, as though he had already admitted defeat. Once his next words left his lips that was it, there would be no going back. "I don't want you to waste your life here with me. I see the way guys throw themselves at you every time we are on the mainland, they're always tall and rich and handsome. You deserve the kind of life someone like that could give you, 18. You shouldn't be stuck here with a reject like me. I can't offer you anything."

"Oh…" everything quickly fell into place and 18 understood what was going on. "Is this about the café?" she asked. Honestly, she had already forgotten about that moron. The second he was out of her sight, he may as well have ceased existing.

"Of course it is!" Krillin retorted, "and every other time we are anywhere other than this island! We both know that everyone is thinking what that guy said! You have to have seen the looks people give us?!"

There was a long moment of thick silence between them as both of their brains worked frantically to process this unexpected twist in their relationship. "I just want you to be happy," Krillin eventually mumbled, pulling his knee's up to his chest and burying his face in them.

"Are you breaking up with me, then?' 18 asked, her voice was cool and level and completely devoid of emotion. She had gone into defence mode and let her android brain take control over her human emotions.

"What?! No!" Genuine surprise covered Krillin's face as he turned to look at 18 again. "I'm letting you know it's ok to break up with me."

"Okay then," 18 stood up and took the few short steps to the edge of the roof. A tidal wave of nausea rolled through Krillin as he tried to prepare himself for what was about to happen. "I'm going to bed."

"Wait!" Krillin yelped. 18 stopped and turned back towards him, hovering in the air just beyond the roof. She did not look impressed. "What?" he asked.

18 shook her head and looked away, "It's freezing out here, Krillin, and you are acting insane. I'm going to bed. When you are finished with whatever this," she gestured wildly at him "is, you are more than welcome to join me."

"So you're not breaking up with me?" Krillin asked so meekly that 18's almost didn't hear it.

"No," she sighed, and stepped back onto the roof. Her panic was starting to subside and slowly she could feel her human brain taking back power, giving her the ability to express her emotions once more. "Krillin, if I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't be with you." She said softly. "It's that simple. There is no sense of obligation here, I promise you."

The wind picked up suddenly, blowing in a cold breeze straight off the ocean, Krillin shuddered as the chill cut straight through to his core. "I'm not good enough for you, 18. You deserve someone who is as perfect as you are."

"And you think morons who try and hit on people despite their repeated requests not to, or people who would judge someone on nothing more than a passing glance are perfect?"

Krillin opened his mouth to respond, but his mind came up blank. He had no answer for 18's impenetrable logic. Instead, he ended up shrugging sheepishly.

"I chose exactly who I wanted, Krillin. And believe me, if I ever decide I don't want you anymore, I'm not some passive wallflower who will stay because I'd feel sorry for you."

Krillin chuckled, it was brutally honest, but 18's strange pep talk was exactly what he needed to hear. Already, he could feel an enormous weight lifting off of his shoulders.

"I'm here because everything I want is here, okay. You make me happy and all that other lovey dovey stuff."

Verbally expressing her affection wasn't something that 18 did all that often, and especially not in tense situations like this, but Krillin understood what she was saying. She loved him. Despite the fact that he was sometimes a total head case who let his anxiety run away with him. "I'm sorry," he said and looked up at 18 with a slightly embarrassed grin.

"It's okay," she replied. 18 couldn't be mad at Krillin, she of all people understood what it was like to be at the mercy of emotions that you didn't understand. The only reason she had come as far as she had was because of Krillin's unwavering love and guidance, and while she hated to see him upset, it felt oddly satisfying to now have their roles reversed, and for her to be the one to provide him with comfort and support.

"C'mon, let's go inside and forget this ever happened." 18 dropped back through their bedroom window into the warmth of the Kame House. Krillin sat for just a moment longer, looking up at the stars. 18 was right of course, she was smart and strong and more than capable of making her own decisions, and for whatever reason, she he had chosen him, and for that, Krillin was the luckiest guy in the world.

* * *

A/N: Another prompt done! This is number 4 of I think about 12 or 13 in this current block I have, and then I will be back to working on Behind Enemy Lines again. I hope you liked this, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it in a review. If you'd like to follow my writing adventures, you can follow my tumblr by heading to the page listed in my bio!

Until next time,

Big Love,  
D.B


	5. Doctor Krillin

A/N: Here is the next prompt. It's the shortest, but also my favourite one so far, and I hope that you,ll enjoy it too. The prompt was "take my hand", which I tweaked a little into "give me your hand" but the end result is adorable either way. Enjoy!

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 **DOCTOR KRILLIN**

"I don't want to jinx it, but I think she might be asleep this time."

"You've only resettled her twice," 18 smiled over her shoulder as Krillin walked into the kitchen, "there's no way she's asleep."

"Hey, a man can dream can't he?" Grabbing a dry dishcloth, Krillin came to stand beside his wife, who was scrubbing the day's dishes in the small sink, and began to wipe dry those that she had already cleaned.

"Not if he's up all night with a screaming baby," 18 smirked and playfully bumped her hip against Krillin.

"Heh," he blushed, even after 3 years of marriage, Krillin was still completely smitten by his wife. "Don't worry, one day she'll be a teenager and she'll do nothing but sleep."

"Not if I have anyth- Ouch!" Instinctively, 18 yanked her hand from the soapy water and held it up for inspection. Blood was oozing from a gash on her palm and streaming down her wrist and forearm.

Without so much as missing a beat, Krillin jumped into action. It might not have been a life threatening injury, but concern was plastered all over the small warriors face. "What happened?" he asked while guiding his wife to sit down at the kitchen table and stuffing his dishcloth into her hand to try and stem the bleeding.

"A glass must have shattered. It's fine, I'm okay."

"I know, I know" Krillin was already rummaging through cupboards and draws looking for the first aid kit. "Of course you are. Don't even think about getting up though."

"Ah, here it is," he came and sat down beside 18, "Give me your hand."

She held out the aforementioned appendage to her husband, and with her other hand, 18 had to cover her eyes and turn away, not because she was squeamish over the blood, but because she couldn't bare the humiliation of having Krillin fuss over her for something so minor. Without even looking, she could picture the giddy happiness that was plastered all over his face as he tended to her wound. He wasn't going to let her live this down. This whole situation was so stupid she could only laugh.

She was right too, through a slit in her fingers, 18 watched Krillin work. Her cheeks were warm and pink, and Krillin kept looking up from her hand and into her eyes to smile at her. She laughed again and shook her head to try and mask her embarrassment.

"Now," Krillin dripped some antiseptic liquid onto a cotton ball. "This might sting a little. Be brave okay, and you might get a treat when we're done." He waggled a mischievous eyebrow and laughed at his own joke.

"I took down Vegeta, in case you forgot. I think I can handle a little antisep-" She pulled her hand away from Krillin as he dabbed at her wound, "That stings!"

"What's that you were saying?" The smugness in Krillin's voice as he reached out and again took 18's hand into his own was almost too much for the blonde to bare. "Took down Vegeta, did you?"

"I'll take you down too if you don't watch it."

This time she didn't flinch as Krillin finished cleaning up the cut. "I'm shaking in my boots," he said without looking up to meet her gaze. The cheeky, satisfied smile on his face was as bright as ever though. Now that the bleeding had stopped, Krillin was able to properly inspect the wound. It was only a little nick, most likely it would be healed over by the morning. He was enjoying playing doctor though, and although she would die before admitting it, he could tell that 18 was enjoying it too.

"Almost done," he said as he stuck a princess themed band-aid over the cut and wrapped a few layers of bandage around 18's palm to hold it in place. "There. Finished." He sat back and proudly admired his work before holding 18's hand up to his lips and gently kissing it. "Feel better?"

"Much better. You saved my life."

"I know," Krillin smiled and patted himself on the back, "I'm a hero." With that, he stood up and scooped 18 up into his arms, bridal style.

"What are you doing?" she asked, but didn't protest, instead she nestled into him and stretched up to kiss Krillin in such a way that a hot blush rushed all the way from his head to his feet.

"You need to recuperate in bed after such a traumatic injury," he responded, smiling against her soft lips, "and I believe I promised you a treat."

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A/N: I love this one! It was super fun to write and I hope it was fun to read! Reviews and comments, as always, are very much appriciated, as are likes and follows. Visit my tumblr to follow my writing adventures and I'll be back with the next prompt soon!

Big love

Deadly Beauty


	6. Inturruptions

A/N: The prompt for this addition was "Krillin and 18 trying to get some 'alone time' but they keep getting interrupted. So that's what I wrote. This is the first smutty thing I have ever really written, so I would appriciate feedback from people on where I did good and where I could do better next time! That being said, I hope you enjoy this one. It was fun to write!

* * *

 **WARNING: ADULT CONTENT BELOW!**

 **INTURRUPTIONS**

Usually, Krillin wasn't one to be so forward about initiating sexytimes with his wife. Make no mistake, once he'd be given the green light it was all systems go, but 18 could sometime be funny about being touched unexpectedly, which of course, given her past, he understood and was always weary to be conscious of.

Today was not a usual day though. All day, beginning from first thing this morning when he had been getting Marron her breakfast, 18 had been teasing him. Seducing him with long kisses and risqué touches when she knew full well that they weren't alone in the house. The tiny shorts she had been wearing while hanging the washing and the way she made sure to bend at the hips in them to give him a full view of her glorious, round, behind was a sight that Krillin would never forget.

At one point, Krillin had passed her on the stairs and before he even fully realised what he was doing, he'd had 18 pinned lustily against the wall. He'd leapt up to meet her and kissed her with a passion so feverish that he was almost unable to control it. She'd returned his advance with equal enthusiasm, stuffing her hand down his shorts and grazing her fingers along his length. He was hard instantly. The only thing that had stopped him from taking her right then and there on the stairs was the fact that Roshi was sitting no more than 5 feet away in the living room, and Krillin did not want to give the old perv the satisfaction.

It was a game of sexy cat and mouse which drew on and on with the afternoon and into the evening; so that by the time it was finally time to put Marron down for the night, they were both about ready to explode with pent up sexual frustration.

Normally, Krillin's bedtime routine with his 1 year old daughter was one of his favourite parts of the day. They would read a storybook together, or sing some lullabies. Tonight though, Krillin powered his way through the book, skimming over every third or fourth page, and sung a half-hearted rendition of 'Twinkle-twinkle little star' before kissing Marron on the head, flicking on the nightlight and racing from the room.

18 was waiting for him across the hall in their bedroom, and he tried to act casual as he strolled across the landing, but Krillin felt like a kid on Christmas, and he knew that if he happened to bump into Roshi and Oolong, the quickly growing bulge in his shorts would be a dead giveaway as to what his present was.

He stepped into the bedroom to find, much to his delight, that 18 was wearing a silky little midriff camisole and matching panties - both of which were the same colour as her eyes - and not much else. She was sitting at her vanity desk, running her brush through her soft golden hair and smiling at her reflection in the mirror. She knew what she was doing to Krillin, but she was acting coy. As if the thought of jumping her husband's bones wasn't the only thing on her mind right now.

Finally. Krillin shut the door and snapped the lock. They were alone.

He strode across the small room toward his wife, coming to stand behind her at her desk. He leaned forward to place a kiss on the top of her head, and began to massage her shoulders. They locked eyes in the mirror and both smiled hungrily.

Who caved in first was anyone's guess, but they next thing they knew, Krillin and 18 were rolling around on their bed getting themselves thoroughly tangled in both the sheets and each other.

"You have no idea how badly I want you right now," Krillin whispered into 18's ear as his lips worked their way down her neck and across her jaw.

18 did have an idea, she could feel it pressing firmly into her thigh as Krillin leaned over her body and pressed his lips against hers. Their tongues clashed as they fought for dominance and their hands glided over each other, exploring bodies that they both already knew so well.

The passion that had been ignited by that first touch left them both panting and covered in a thin layer of sweat when they finally broke their kiss. Krillin sat up so that he was straddling 18, knees resting on either side of her thighs. She followed him, sitting up and wrapping her fingers around his neck, and sinking her tongue into his mouth once again, only stopping for the briefest moment so that she could peel his teeshirt up over his head and toss it far to the other side of the room. "Are you going to take me or not?"

Her lustily whispered words seemed to send her husband's desire to a whole new level. Mirroring her act from a moment before, Krillin pulled the camisole she was wearing off of her and added it to the quickly growing pile of clothes on the floor, exposing 18 in all of her perfect glory. He gently pushed her back down onto the bed.

From his vantage point above her, Krillin had the perfect view, it would be remiss of him not to stop for a moment and admire it. He was, after all, the only person in the world who would ever get to enjoy it. It all started with those blue eyes which pierced right through to his soul. Cheeks, which were flushed pink with desire. Soft, kissable lips that formed the perfect smile and always tasted ever so faintly like strawberries.

But it got better. Two perfect, perky breasts awaited him, soft and supple and just the right size to fit into Krillin's hands. They heaved up and down as 18 took deep, heavy breaths. He didn't even notice the long scars that ran across her collarbone and pelvis, and down the middle of her torso anymore, but then again, they'd never been a big deal to him in the first place. He reached out, placing his strong hands onto 18's belly and slowly sliding them upwards over her ribs, her skin felt like silk beneath his fingers. His touch was like an electric shock to 18, and she arched her back towards him, thrusting her breasts up into his waiting hands. A long moan escaped her as Krillin leaned forward and began to suckle on one of her nipples, whilst gently rolling the other back and forth between his thumb and forefinger. He knew exactly what she liked. This woman, who by some miracle of the universe, he had managed to get into his bed, was a goddess, and she would get nothing less than everything she desired.

.

Crying.

.

"Ignore it," 18 closed her eyes and tangled her fingers into Krillin's hair. "She's just fussing, she'll resettle herself."

Krillin didn't need convincing. His mouth travelled upwards, leaving a trail of kisses along 18's collarbone, her neck, her jaw and finally capturing her lips. Meanwhile, his hand headed south, skimming down her side until he reached her panties. He gently tugged at the satiny fabric and 18 tilted her hips up towards him.

"Ugh," Krillin buried his face in the crook of 18's neck. "She's getting worse." Unsurprisingly perhaps, there was something about the sound of his child screaming that was somewhat of a mood killer for the small man. "Roshi will be knocking the door down any second if she keeps it up." He looked lovingly down at his wife who could only nod in frustrated agreement.

"I'll go," Krillin tucked a strand of hair back behind 18's ear. "You," he laid his lips gently in the valley between her breasts, "don't move a single muscle. I'll be right back." And with that he crawled out of the bed, carefully draping the covers back over 18; readjusted himself more comfortably, and discreetly, in his shorts and after fishing his teeshirt from the pile of clothes they had been building, he quietly slunk from the room.

.

10 minutes later, 18 gave up waiting and followed him. "Krillin, what's taking- Oh my god, what is that _smell?_ " she stepped into Marron's nursery and was immediately confronted by an olfactory assault.

"It's a poosplosion!" Krillin lamented over his shoulder, as he peeled layers of soiled clothes off of his daughter. It was the first time in his life he'd ever been grateful for his muted sense of smell. "It's everywhere. Do you want to bath her, or clean the crib?" There was no getting out of this, unfortunately.

18 looked past her husband to Marron, who was sitting up on her change table smiling and gurgling to herself without a care in the world. "Are you kidding me?" she asked her. "Why now?"

.

It was 45 minutes later when Krillin's head finally hit his pillow. 18, who had long since given up on her sexy lingerie and changed into comfy sweatpants and a singlet, had already collapsed onto the bed beside him.

"Parenthood hey," Krillin laughed and flicked off the lamp on his bedside table. Moonlight filtered in through the window coating them both in a silver glow.

Rolling onto her side and into Krillin's waiting arms, 18 nuzzled her head against his broad chest and smiled. "It's an experience, that's for sure." Her hand slipped down beneath the elastic of Krillin's pyjama pants, much to his surprised delight, he'd thought for sure the mood had been well and truly killed for the night, but he was more than happy to be proven wrong.

He kissed the top of 18's head and then tilted her chin up towards him so that he could reach her lips and he kissed her slowly, exploring her mouth with his own. The mood was different this time. Before, it had been hot and heavy and about nothing more than satisfying their basic primal urges. Now though dressed in their frumpy parent pyjamas, after having tended to their child together, it was much more than that.

Krillin felt closer to his wife than ever before and he wrapped his arms around her and rolled them over so that she was on her back with him propped up on one elbow above her. He kissed her deeply, not just with lust, but with passion, adoration and love.

18 moaned softly against Krillin's lips when she felt his hand gliding down her back. He gave her backside a gentle smack as she wrapped her legs up around his hips, pulling him in even closer to her.

"Do you like this shirt?" Krillin asked, his words punctuated with kissed, as he tugged at the singlet she was wearing.

18 dragged her fingers up his back and wove them into his damp hair, "hate it," she replied as she redirected his lips to her neck.

In one swift movement the shirt was no more, ripped clean in half as Krillin tore it off, baring 18 once more. "Good," he muttered and took her nipple into his mouth, picking up from where he had left off before they had been side tracked. "Now," he asked, "where were we?"

18 closed her eyes and relinquished control of her body to Krillin. She shuddered as his hands and mouth worked in perfect harmony with one another to hit every single sensitive spot on her body. Her hips bucked up almost involuntarily, to meet Krillin's and he moaned as she rubbed her pelvis up against his erection.

The primal sounds he made drove 18 wild. "You like that?" she asked, repeating the movement and eliciting the same response from her husband.

"What do you think?" he asked between ragged breaths. They found a rhythm and their hips began to grind together in unison, but only for a moment, before 18 took over and pushed Krillin onto his back, so that she was now sitting on his thighs.

"Why are you still wearing pants?" she asked, before pulling them off him and throwing them somewhere into the dark bedroom. It was her turn to take control.

Krillin moaned and let his head sink back into the pillow as 18 took his rock hard length into her hands and began to stroke it up and down. The look on her face suggested that she was enjoying it as much as he was, though after the endless amount of waiting he had been through today to get to this moment, he wasn't sure that could be possible. His whole body twitched and quivered as 18 worked, and a layer of damp, sticky sweat clung to his body as he tried his very best to control himself; years of concentration and monastic meditation techniques should have given him the ability to be in much better control of his body in situations like this than he currently was. But he was only human, and the combination of pent up desire and the feeling of his wife's hands and mouth working together in perfect synchronicity was going to bring him to the end much, much sooner than he would like.

"Ugh, 18," he panted. "Stop," he tugged on her hair and she looked up to meet his eyes, her mouth completely full of him. That glorious sight alone was almost his undoing. "Come here," he begged, and thankfully 18 complied. She crawled up the bed towards him, locking her eyes onto his, making very sure that her breasts and torso rubbed up against him as she shimmed up his body.

His breath was ragged as he wrapped his strong hand around the back of 18's head and pulled her into him, plunging his tongue deep into her mouth. She responded with equal force and hunger, grinding her hips down into Krillin's pelvis and biting playfully at his lips.

.

A phone ringing.

.

Suddenly, the small, dark bedroom was lit up with the unnatural display screen light of 18's mobile. The obnoxious jingling ringtone and the buzzing as the phone vibrated against the bedside table made for a trio of annoyances too great to ignore.

"What in the…" 18 muttered to herself as she crawled a little further up the bed to reach for her phone, putting her in just the right position for Krillin to take her nipple into his mouth, much to his delight.

18 stared, bleary eyed at the photo of her brother on the screen before cancelling the call. It was 10 o'clock at night, even if she wasn't currently indisposed, she would have been annoyed at him for calling her at this hour anyway.

"Who was it?" Krillin asked, using the opportunity to take back control and turn 18 onto her back.

"My brother," she breathed as Krillin slipped his hand beneath her sweatpants and began to slowly and deliberately stroke her "I'll call him back tomorrow". She was dripping with anticipation and her body was already so primed that his touch felt like a fierce storm rolling through her body. She bucked up into him and sighed as she felt him slip a finger inside of her, whilst continuing to stroke and massage her with his thumb. Her grip around his neck tightened, she panted as they began to move together in unison.

The phone rang again.

"Answer it," Krillin breathed, brushing his lips against the corner of 18's mouth, his hands never stopping their important work.

18 snatched the phone up off the table and held it to her ear, "What do you want, 17?" she closed her eyes as Krillin kissed hungrily down her neck.

"Hello to you too," 17 sounded overly cheery, "can't a guy just call his favourite sister to chat?"

"It's 10 o'clock."

"It's only 7 here. Sun's still up."

18 watched her husband as he kissed his way down her body. Across her breasts, over her torso, belly button and to her pelvis. "What are you doing?" she asked him frantically as he pushed the blankets aside and removed her pants. He only winked at her as he nudged her legs apart.

"What am I doing?" 17 asked. "Funny you should ask. I just went on a date." 18 could practically hear her brothers eyelashes fluttering as he spoke.

"No…. not you…. Krillin." Was this really happening? 18's face was burning, she pushed her hair back off of her damp forehead and bit down on her lip to try and supress a moan. "Stop it," she turned her head away from the phone.

"C'mon sis," 17 had obviously still heard her, "You're allowed to have a husband, and I can't go on a date? Talk about double standards." He scoffed. "Hey name is Amya."

"That's….ugh" 18 grunted and arched her back as Krillin's tongue brushed over her most sensitive areas with just the right amount of pressure. Their eyes connected for a second and she could see a deviant smile glittering there. "That's great, 17" 18 forced out the sentence, trying her best to sound like she wasn't nearing her peak.

"She's got this amazing, bright red hair," 17 swooned, "and she works here at the park with me. She's a zoologist."

It was getting hard to breath normally. Krillin was a skilled master of many arts, and this was one of his finest. 18 lifted her legs up onto his shoulders, opening herself up to him even more, and he responded accordingly, picking up the pace and intensity of his work.

"Uh…..huh"

"Are you okay?" 17 asked, "You sound funny. It almost sounds like…" 17 paused. "Oh my god, 18. Are you-"

"Ok 17, I've gotta go, bye," 18 ended the call and tossed her phone far across the room. Hands finally free, she plunged them into Krillin's hair, guiding him into the exact rhythm she needed. She'd kill him for embarrassing her like that when they were done, but for now, 18 was helpless. She gave in to the sensations, groaning as every muscle in her body clenched and one of the most intense waves of pleasure she had ever felt crashed right through her, from her head all the way to the tips of her toes.

Her world blurred and she was vaguely aware of crying out her husband's name as she let the feeling swallow her whole. By the time she was able to think again, Krillin had repositioned himself beside her and was brushing her hair out of her eyes, smiling like a gleeful idiot. "Well that was fun!" he said.

18's heart was racing and her whole body quivered, "I'm going to kill you, you know" she turned to face Krillin, whose heart was beating just as hard as hers, and couldn't help the radiant smile that spread across her sweaty, pink face.

"Uh huh," he kissed her. She could taste herself on his lips. They were far from done with tonight yet. "I'd like to see you try."

"Yeah?" 18 asked, pushing him over and smiling sweetly as she straddled him. She was in charge now, and Krillin wasn't going to get the release he was so desperately craving until she decided he had earned it. And that might take all night.

"Believe me," 18 leaned forward and sunk her tongue into Krillin's mouth. "You're going to wish you were dead by the time I'm done with you."

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A/N: So theres that! I hope it wasn't to bad for my first attempt at writing something smutty, I'd really appriciate feedback on this one, wheather via a review or PM or however else you'd like to get it to me, since this is really outside of my usual realm. I do hope you enjoyed it though, and I'll be back with the next prompt whenever I have it finished!

Big Love  
-D.B


	7. Inquisitions

A/N: Another finished prompt! This time around, the prompt was 'Bulma and Chichi quizzing 18 on what it's like to be with Krillin.' It was a cute one and I had a fun time writing it. I hope you'll enjoy it too!

* * *

 **INQUISITIONS**

.

Krillin always knew when 18 was nervous. Not that he would ever admit it to her, but she had a tell. She would tuck her hair back behind her ear. Again, and again, and again, and again – every time a single strand so much as wriggled its way out of place - just like she was doing right now.

As if on cue, 18 piped up and asked, "are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure," he replied with breezy confidence, as if he'd never been surer of anything in his entire life. He turned to 18 and smiled so brightly at her that she had no choice but to trust him.

"And you did tell them I was coming, right?"

"Yes." Krillin nodded as he lead 18 down the main path toward the Capsule Corp. building. "In fact, Bulma was the one who invited you. She likes you, babe! They all like you!"

"Hmmm," 18 wasn't convinced.

Krillin stopped in his tracks and turned to 18. "Babe, trust me. Pretty much everyone in this group was an outsider as first. Yumcha tried to kill us, Tien tried to kill us, Piccolo tried to kill us, Vegeta tried to kill us, and look at them now. You," he let himself float up to 18's eye level and kissed her softly, "You never even tried to kill us! You have nothing to worry about."

"I had a pretty good crack at Vegeta."

"Heh," Krillin sniggered, "We've all tried to kill Vegeta at one point or another. C'mon, let's go."

.

"Krilliiiiin!" The high pitched rendition of his name almost caused the small man's ear drums to burst. Bulma raced across the lawn and wrapped him in a warm embrace. His cheeks flushed pink as he tried to ignore the fact that his face was being pressed straight into her bosom. "I'm so glad you made it!"

"And 18!" she repeated the gesture and threw her arms around 18, but quickly released her when she felt the blondes entire body tense up.

"We wouldn't have missed it," Krillin spotted Chichi sitting at the table on the deck, bouncing a young Goten on her lap, and waved.

"Yumcha and Gohan are over with my dad manning the grill, if you want to go talk about sports or whatever," Bulma rolled her eyes and pointed towards them, effectively shooing Krillin away. "18, why don't you come and sit with Chichi and I. We have a giant jug of mojito!"

It seemed to Krillin as if Bulma might have had most of that jug herself. He looked up at 18, who was looking awkwardly back down at him.

"Uh," Krillin swallowed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "How about I come and catch up with you first?" he suggested. "I haven't seen Chichi in months. Goten looks huge!"

"Nope," Bulma waggled her finger in Krillin's face. "Boys, grill. Girls," she tried to loop her arm through 18's, but 18 pulled away before she had the chance, "Mojitos! Let's go 18!"

"Bulma," Krillin tried to intervene one more time, but 18 cut him off.

"It's fine," she looked down at him and smiled. "Do as you're told, Krillin, and go help with the grill. I'll be okay." Bulma was tanked, suddenly 18 wasn't so concerned about being the one people should worry about at this get together.

She followed Bulma across the lawn and sat down next to Chichi at the table. The dark haired woman looked relieved to see her; it was certainly not the reaction 18 had been expecting, but one she was more than happy to take.

"I'm so glad you're here," Chichi leaned over and muttered to 18, "That's the second jug of mojito she's drunk her way through."

Bulma unceremoniously plonked herself down at the table and poured 18 a tall glass of green cocktail. She tried to top Chichi's still half full glass up too, but she refused. She was driving home later, after all, and someone around here needed to be responsible.

"So," asked Bulma, "where were we? Oh yes, Yumcha! How good is he looking in that shirt? He's been working out!"

Chichi was mortified, "I'm a married woman, Bulma!" she exclaimed.

"Oh so am I!" Bulma scoffed, dismissing Chichi with a wave of her hand. "That doesn't mean we can't window shop! What about you 18, what do you think?"

"I have no opinion on Yumcha." 18 stated flatly as she watched the boys goofing off around the grill. Her disinterest seemed to spark something in Bulma's alcohol clouded mind, and she slammed her palms down onto the table, making both her guests jump with shock.

"That's right!" she cried, barely able to contain herself as she wriggled around in her seat. "You and Krillin are 'official' now," she air quoted with her fingers for emphasis, "aren't you?! So, spill! What's it like?"

"Excuse me?" 18 looked toward Chichi for clarification, and hopefully some sanity. "Spill?"

"What's Krillin like as a boyfriend?" Chichi rephrased the question, and leaned in closer to 18, waiting for the answer. She may have been able to play it cooler than Bulma, but Chichi was a gossip hound at heart, and this was a topic that the two women had spent many, many hours speculating on in the past.

"Oh," 18 sat back in her chair and pondered the question. She'd been sitting here for two minutes and already all the focus was on her, these women worked fast. "I'm not sure that's any of your business," she replied calmly.

"Oh come on 18, don't be a stick in the mud," Bulma teased as she stuck a cigarette in her mouth and took a long drag. "Is he like we've always imagined?"

"How have you imagined him?"

"Soft and tender," Chichi said with a sigh that 18 found more than a little disturbing.

"But I'll bet he knows how to take control when it counts!" Bulma waggled an eyebrow before bursting into a fit of giggles.

18 was entirely unsure what to make of this situation. Here she was being interrogated by these two women whom she had met only a handful of times before today, but who she would very much like to become friends with, having questions thrown at her that she really didn't know how to, or even want to answer. Her relationship with Krillin was only a few months old, they were still getting to know each other themselves and 18 didn't exactly have a wealth of past dating experience to draw from when comparing him to other men. But still, she had to say something. Bulma and Chichi were staring expectantly at her and she had a feeling they weren't going to take no for an answer.

"He's good," 18 eventually replied, looking over to where the man in question was play fighting with Gohan on the lawn. She took a big sip of the drink Bulma had poured for her to try and break the awkward silence that had developed. Clearly Bulma and Chichi were waiting for her to say more. The cocktail was strong as hell, no wonder Bulma was so tipsy. "He treats me well," she finally added, hoping to get the older two women off her case.

"Well of course he does, he's Krillin. He hasn't got a bad bone in his body." Chichi argued, clearly not impressed with 18's answer. "Give us more than that!" she begged. "Is he romantic?"

"Romantic?" 18 repeated the question as she thought about the answer. "Every day he tries to do something sweet for me, I guess that would be considered romantic."

Bulma swooned. "Like what?"

18 took another gulp of her drink before she answered. These women were so intrusive, but maybe, she thought, as the alcohol began to swim through her veins, maybe that was a good thing. She wanted them to like her, after all, and wasn't this type of gossipy, girly chitchat a sign of friendship?

"I don't know," she shrugged her shoulders. The ridiculously strong cocktail was already starting to loosen her inhibitions, even after only a few sips. "He writes little love notes on the bathroom mirror when it steams up, and plans picnic dinners on the beach so we can watch the sunset." A smile spread across 18's face as she thought of all the ways Krillin declared his love for her, ways that until now, she had probably been taking for granted.

Sinking back into her chair, Bulma groaned, "I'd give anything for Vegeta to surprise me with a picnic!" she lamented. "All he thinks about it training and sex, the man is an animal!"

18 wrinkled her nose and grimaced, that was more than she had ever hoped to know about Vegeta.

"You're so lucky, 18," Chichi bounced Goten on her lap and kissed the top of his head, "Saiyan men are nothing but heartbreak. They promise you everything, but they're not really capable of thinking about anything other than their next big fight."

Bulma nodded in agreement as she drained her glass and quickly refilled it. "You hit the jackpot with Krillin."

"You'll never have to worry about him putting a surprise baby inside of you and then blowing himself up, that's for sure."

Cocktail came flying out of Bulma's nose as she snorted and laughed at Chichi's totally unexpected outburst. "Sorry," she said as she composed herself, "I just was _not_ expecting that!"

"That makes two of us," Chichi smirked and Bulma lost it again, melting into a fit of laughter so loud that it attracted the attention of the boys, who came over to see what all the commotion was.

.

"What's going on over here?' Krillin asked as he slid down into the empty seat beside 18 and helped himself to a drink from her glass; and then tried to discreetly choke to death when the alcohol started to burn its way down his throat.

"Oh nothing," Bulma said, having finally composed herself once again. "Just girly talk."

Chichi smiled smugly and nodded in agreement.

"You alright there, Krillin?"

"Uh-huh," he managed to squeak amidst all his coughing and spluttering. "Great!" he smiled and wondered to himself if Bulma was actually an alcoholic. How much rum was in this drink, exactly? It would explain a lot though, he supposed, he'd drink too if he was married to Vegeta.

As the focus of the playful banter drifted away from her, 18 sat back in her chair and began to relax. Krillin draped an arm lazily across her shoulders as he picked up a conversation with Chichi. There was laughing and smiling and joking and 18 was a part of it all. It was a strange sensation; and one that the petite blonde was not yet entirely used to, to be a part of a group. To be not just included, but welcomed and wanted, was a luxury she thought would never be afforded to her, and yet here she was. It was a feeling that she could certainly see herself getting used to, even if it did mean occasionally having to hear about Vegeta's sex life.

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A/N: What did you think? I hope you liked it! Reviews, likes and favourites are always very much appriciated, and I will be back soon with the next finished prompt!

Until then,

Big Love  
D.B


	8. Whose Your Daddy?

A/N: Quick turn around this time! The prompt for this one was "Marron asking Krillin about his parents" and I think this one, while a little bit sad, is also very sweet and shows a tender moment between father and daughter. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!

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 **WHOSE YOUR DADDY?**

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Krillin sunk back into the plush softness of his favourite squishy armchair, smiling as he felt his body finally start to relax. It had been a long day at work. Too many hours on his feet dealing with angry, obnoxious crooks who all seemed to have a personal grudge against him for having the audacity to uphold the law.

But he was home now, and the problems of the day were quickly fading away. The second he had sat down, Marron had crawled up into his lap, snuggling in as close as she possibly could to her daddy. Krillin welcomed her in, wrapping his eager arms around the small girl in a big bear hug, he listened to her chatter away to herself as he half-heartedly watched the TV.

"Daddy?" Marron nuzzled her little head under her father's chin, earning his attention.

"Yes, little bug?"

She reached up and landed a big kiss on the side of Krillin's face "I love you!"

Krillin's heart swelled with love for his daughter. He squeezed her a little bit tighter and said, "I love you too, little bug."

"And I love mummy, and I love Grandpa Roshi and Oolong and Turtle, and Uncle 17," it seemed that Marron wasn't quite done with her declarations. Krillin could only smile as she rattled off the names of almost everyone she knew.

"Daddy?" she asked again, as a thought struck her.

"Yes, little bug?"

"Is Grandpa Roshi your daddy?"

"Uhh," the question caught Krillin off guard, and he stiffened in his chair. What was he supposed to say? He didn't want to lie to Marron, but he wasn't sure what degree of the truth was even appropriate. She was only three; he thought he had at least a few more years up his sleeve until she started with the awkward questions.

"Kind of," he eventually muttered lamely, knowing instantly that it would not placate Marron's insatiable curiosity.

"Is he mummy's daddy?"

"No!" Krillin sputtered and laughed. He could just imagine the look of horror that would grace his lovely wife's face at the mere suggestion. "No," he tried again, "Grandpa Roshi isn't mummy's daddy. He looked after me and Uncle Goku when we were little like you."

"Oh," Marron seemed to accept that answer and paused for a moment while she digested it. "Who is your daddy?"

A strange pang of emotion pulsed through Krillin as he thought about Marron's question. The way she was looking up at him, with her big dark eyes, her little hand holding firmly onto his, it sparked feelings inside him that he had thought were well and truly dead and buried. Who were his parents indeed? And why didn't they want him? They were questions that he simply didn't have answers for.

"I don't know," he kissed the top of Marron's head. "Not everyone has a mummy or a daddy, little bug."

"Why not?"

Krillin was in over his head with this. "Uh," he fumbled, "because sometimes mummy's and daddy's decide that they would like someone else to look after their children, so they give them to people like Grandpa Roshi, who take care of them instead." Krillin patted himself on the back, for what he thought was a pretty good, age appropriate answer to a tricky question. That was until he looked down at Marron to see her little bottom lip quivering, and her eyes sparkling with tears. "What's the matter, princess?" he asked, wiping a droplet off her cheek with his thumb.

"I don't want someone else to look after me," Marron blubbered through sobs as she began to properly cry.

"Oh, little bug," Krillin felt his heart break as he shifted Marron in his lap so he could cradle her right into his chest, the way he used to when she was a baby. "Mummy and daddy will always be here to look after you, I promise." He kissed Marron on the side of her head, and then kissed her again for good measure.

"Really promise?" Marron asked, her face was buried in the crook of Krillin's neck, muffling her voice, but he heard her.

God. If only the toddler had any idea just how much Krillin meant it, when he said he would always be there to protect her. If she knew that he had summoned Shenron the day she had been born and wished that she would never know a single moments' pain in her life. If she knew the heartache he had felt when Shenron had said that such a wish was beyond his power. Everything Krillin did, every single breath that filled his lungs, he did to keep his family safe. He would die, had died, for them, for her. "Really promise," he closed his eyes and held his tiny daughter a little bit tighter. "Mummy and daddy love you so much, for ever and ever."

There was no force in the universe that was strong enough to separate Krillin from his child.

"C'mon, little bug," Krillin stood up, taking Marron with him. "Let's go run you a bath and get ready for bed, shall we?" This conversation was too sad for either of them, and Krillin wanted to be done with it as soon as possible, to shove it far back into the darkest corner of his memory he was able to.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight, daddy?"

"Of course you can princess." He was glad that she had asked, because that meant Krillin didn't have to come up with an excuse to give to 18 when she asked what Marron was doing in their bed. Truth be told, he had no intention of the small girl sleeping anywhere other than between her parents loving arms tonight. He needed it even more than she did.

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A/N: So a little bit shorter than some of the others, but I really enjoyed this one none the less! If you did too (or if you didn't) I'd love to hear your thoughts. Likes and reviews are always very much appriciated. If you'd like to join in on my writing adventures, or suggest a prompt yourself, you can follow me on tumblr, the link to my blog is at the top of my bio page.

Will be back with the next prompt soon, so until then,

Big Love,  
D.B.


	9. Murph

A/N: Another day, another prompt. The prompt this time around was "18 getting jealous" and it couldn't include Krillin's ex Maron. It was a fun challenge and I think this came out quite well! I hope you all enjoy it. Lemme know what you think! ^_^

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 **MURPH**

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The elevator doors slid open and Krillin and 18 stepped out into the bustling SCPD Christmas Party. Funky music was piping into the room, waiters milled around carrying trays of finger food and champagne, people were laughing and dancing. If 18 wasn't swimming with nerves, it would have looked like a fun time.

"You're gonna love Murph."

Ah yes. Murph. 18's eyes darted around the crowded room wondering which of these men was the famous Murph. 18 heard so much about this man, Krillin's partner, that she almost felt like he was the third person in their marriage. Krillin and Murph, Murph and Krillin. On one hand, 18 was glad that Krillin had someone at work who had his back, but on the other, she wasn't thrilled that she was essentially sharing her husband with a strange man. At least now she would be able to put a face to a name.

She followed Krillin through a sea of people, who were at varying stages of drunkenness, as he made a beeline toward his work friends. "Hey guys!" he said, as the group opened up their circle to make way for the newcomers.

"Howdy partner, I was wondering when you were going to show."  
"Heh," Krillin laughed, "This look doesn't just happen you know, perfection takes time!"  
"Yeah right. You probably threw that suit on thirty seconds before you left the house."  
"It was forty five seconds, thank you very much."

18 watched the short interaction with interest. Krillin had been working for the Satan City Police Department for about eight months now, and while she had certainly heard lots of stories about all the crazy things her husband got up to with his coworkers, this would be the first time she had actually met any of them. She shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to the other, waiting to be introduced.

"Murph, this is my wife, 18," Krillin beamed proudly, placing his hand on the small of 18's back. "Babe, this is Murph."

"I am so excited to finally meet you," Murph said, stepping in closer towards 18, to better hear her over the crowd. "Krillin talks about you nonstop. Literally, like all day every day. I'm not even kidding. I feel like I've known you for years."

"Likewise," 18 replied, smiling politely as she helped herself to a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. She skulled down the entire thing in one quick gulp and grabbed another from the tray. She was going to need it. "He didn't mention how beautiful you were, though."

 _'Or that you were a woman.'_

"Oh gee, thanks Krill." Murph elbowed her partner in the ribs and laughed boisterously. "Well I can't say the same about you. You are every bit as stunning as Krillin says."

18's eye twitched involuntarily at the sound of the undeniably gorgeous Officer Murphy addressing her husband with the playful nickname. A nickname that she herself often used! And what was with that borderline flirty touching?

"Thank you." 18 suddenly realized that both Krillin and Murph were staring at her, waiting for her to say something. "What's it like?" she asked as she sipped from her second champagne flute in as many minutes, "working so closely with my husband?" There was a certain tightness to her voice that didn't go unnoticed by Krillin, sparking his attention and putting him on high alert. It was the same tone of voice that wives used to say things like 'it's fine' and 'do whatever you want', which every husband knew meant an imminent code red.

"Oh he's great!" Murph gushed, totally oblivious to the storm that was brewing. "The dad jokes, not so much," she laughed. "But for a rookie, he's a great cop. And strong as hell too, I don't know where he hides in all in that cute lil' bod of his!"

 _Abort!_

"18!" Krillin quickly jumped in, sandwiching himself between his agitated wife and his unsuspecting partner before 18 had a chance to launch herself at other woman. "Why don't we go out to the balcony and have a look at the view. We're at the top of the tallest building in the city you know? I bet we could see for miles from up here," he said before taking her hand and forcefully dragging 18 away.

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"What was that all about?" He asked as they found a quite spot at the far end of the balcony and sat down.

18 turned away from Krillin, pretending that she was taking in the stunning view of Satan City. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "Murph seems nice."

Resting his hand on her shoulder, Krillin gently coaxed 18 back around so he could see her face. "Babe," he began, "I know that tone of voice… What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you tell me your partner was a woman?"

"What?" Krillin's eyes crinkled as he tried to hide his amusement. "I'm sure I did," he rubbed the back of his head in that silly way he did when he was nervous or uncomfortable. "What difference does it make though?"

"She's very beautiful."

"Is she? I mean, I guess. But there is only one woman I have eyes for. You know that, right?" Krillin placed his hand on 18's thigh and gave it a playful squeeze. He'd been so excited to bring 18 here and show her the other side of his world. His job was a huge and important part of his life, but his family was even more important than that. He'd hoped that the merging of the two worlds would be going a smoother than this.

"Don't pretend like you haven't noticed," 18 scoffed, resting her chin in her palms. She looked back inside, through a tall window towards the woman in question, who had now picked up an animated conversation with another couple. She had wavy brown hair that cascaded half way down her back and bright, sparkly green eyes. She was tanned and tall and toned. 18 thought she could have easily been a model if she ever got tired of being a police officer. "Look at her, she's gorgeous."

"Babe," Krillin smiled to himself. He knew what was going on here, and he had to admit, it kind of made him feel like a hotshot. "Are you jealous of Murph?"

"No!" 18 snapped back to quickly, giving herself away. "No," she flicked her hair back over her shoulder, trying to act cool. "Why would I be jealous of you spending so much time alone with a beautiful woman?"

Uh-oh. There was that 'do whatever you want' tone of voice again. Krillin needed to diffuse this situation now, before this whole building mysteriously became a pile of rubble.

"18, this is silly." Krillin looked at his wife and smiled. She smiled back and he could have sworn he saw a little hint of pink tinge her cheeks. "I was so excited for you to meet Murph tonight. I honestly think you'll really like her once you get to know her, and _I swear_ I thought you knew she was a woman!" He really was sure he'd mentioned that.

"Babe, trust me on this okay. Every second I spend sitting in that squad car with Murph, I'm thinking about getting home to you. She wasn't joking when she said I talk about you nonstop."

"Really?"

"Heh," Krillin blushed bright red. "Really. I actually think I might have a problem. I can't help myself. I just love you so much, babe!" He leaned forward and gave 18 a soft kiss.

18 laughed and shook her head as they parted. "You're an idiot."

"That's definitely true," Krillin agreed, then stood up and held out his hand, offering it to 18. "But I'm your idiot and you're stuck with me forever! I promise you, there is nothing to worry about when it comes to me and Murph. She is my friend, and my coworker, but you are the love of my life."

"I know. I'm sorry," 18 apologized, suddenly feeling very silly. Of course she knew how much Krillin loved her, and that he would never, ever do anything that he thought would hurt or upset her. "I was caught off guard. I don't know what came over me."

"Doesn't matter," Krillin smiled. Truth be told, it was kind of a turn on, seeing 18 acting all possessive over him. But that was a thought he would save until later. "We've only got the sitter at home until midnight, we shouldn't waste our precious date night out here. What do you say we head inside and start over, there still heaps of other guys I want you to meet."

"Alright," 18 agreed, feeling much better as she felt Krillin give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Lead the way, officer."

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A/N: What did you think? Let me know, I'd love your feedback! If you'd like to come along on my writing adventures, or submit a prompt of your own, follow me on tumblr! You can find the address on my profile page!

Until the next prompt (which shouldn't be too far away!) keep the K18 love coming my way!

Big Love  
Deadly Beauty


	10. I Love You

A/N: New prompt time. The prompt for this one was 'Krillin hearing the words "I love you" for the first time' I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

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 **I LOVE YOU**

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The sound of Krillin quietly humming a tune to himself as he sat beside her was providing 18 with a nice soundtrack to the constant loop of thoughts that was running through her head. He had come out to join her on the beach, where 18 was busy taking advantage of the fact that Roshi and Oolong had disappeared to the mainland for a few days, by stripping down to her bikini and letting the suns warm rays shine down on her.

She wanted to tell Krillin something. Something important. Something that she had wanted to tell him for a while now. But every time she worked up the nerve, there was no opportunity; and whenever she had the opportunity, she seemed to lose her nerve.

When she truly thought about it, 18 wasn't sure what it was that was holding her back. At this stage, telling him would be nothing more than a formality, really. Of course Krillin already knew how she felt about him, they had been dating for almost six months. They lived together, shared a bed and a life. Surely the way she now found it impossible to fall asleep at night unless his arms were snugly wrapped around her was testament enough to the way that she felt about him.

But what if it wasn't? And surely Krillin deserved to hear those words for himself. 18 thought about how she felt whenever Krillin expressed his feelings for her. It made her cheeks feel warm and her heart racy. She wanted him to be able to feel those feeling too.

Alright. 18 took a deep breath, she was going to do it. Just like ripping off a bandaid, there was no point dragging it out, it would only make it even harder.

"You know I love you," 18 tipped her head to look towards Krillin, with a somewhat nervous smile. "Right?"

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Krillin snapped his head around to look at 18 and froze. Blood rushed from his brain so fast that he felt lightheaded. It was so sudden that it alarmed 18, who pushed herself up from where she had been sunbaking on her beach towel. She sat up so that she could better observe Krillin's sudden ghostly appearance. What had she done? This was not the reaction she had been expecting.

"Krillin?" she waved her hand across his face. "Krillin what's happening? Are you okay?"

Krillin blinked slowly, forcing his mind to reset and bring him back to the present moment. "What did you just say?" he asked, sure that he must have misheard.

"You heard me." It appeared that 18 had broken her boyfriend by saying it once, there was no way she was going to find out what happened if she said it again.

Krillin's shoulders dropped as he exhaled. "Wow," was all he could manage to say. He was genuinely lost for words. It was a strange sensation for someone who was known to suffer from chronic verbal diarrhoea, but his mind was blank. Digging his hands into the sand, Krillin watched the grains filter through his fingers as he processed 18's words. "No one's ever said that too me before, you know?"

"What?" 18's voice raised a surprised octave. She realized instantly how condescending it must have sounded, but she powered on anyway, "That can't be true."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Krillin asked. "You have my autobiography in there don't you?" he tapped his temple. "My life wasn't exactly sunshine and roses before I met you."

Sunshine and roses? 18 had no idea what that meant, but it wasn't important right now. "You know that's not how it works," she said, dismissing both her confusion and Krillin's quasi-insult and instead focusing on the much more important part of Krillin's statement. It seemed impossible to believe, but all it took was one glimpse at the heartbreak on his face, and 18 knew that it had to be true.

"Goku and Bulma, and Roshi love me, but that's not what I mean. They're more like family, like a brother and sister, and Roshi is practically my father. No one has ever said they loved me romantically before," 18 got the feeling that Krillin was speaking to himself more than her. "That's hardly surprising though, I guess."

18's face fell into a frown as she turned her gaze back towards the sea. Krillin was a truly wonderful man and she hated the way he was always so quick to put himself down. "Why would you say that?" she asked as she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"Have you looked at me?" Krillin laughed. It was a nervous habit, he did it to try and cover up his shame and embarrassment, but 18 saw right through him. "I mean, I think we can both agree that I'm not going to be winning any beauty pageants anytime soon. I'm too short, and there's this," he rubbed the spot on his face where is nose should have been, "whole thing going on. I'm covered in scars, and don't even get me started on the mess that's on the inside. Who would love this?"

"I just said I did. You really need to learn how to accept a compliment you know. It loses it's meaning if we have to have a twenty minute debrief every time I want to say something nice to you," 18 was ribbing him, but there was also more than a few grains of truth to her words.

"Why?" Krillin asked.  
"Why what?"  
"Why did you say that?"

Oh jeeze. 18 rubbed her temples. This was why she usually kept her thoughts to herself. Most of the time she couldn't even understand her own emotions. Asking her to try and explain them to somebody else was like asking an ant to climb Mount Everest. "Alright," she sighed, she could feel Krillin's anxious eyes on her and she knew he wasn't going to let this go that easily. This was a huge moment for him, after all. "There is so much more to you that the way you look Krillin, not that I actually happen to think there is anything wrong with the way you look in the first place, but," she began, her blue eyes fixed firmly on the ocean. "You are a wonderful, kind, generous man and the fact that no one has ever seen that before only speaks to their flaws, not yours."

"D- do you really mean that?"

"Yes!" 18 unwrapped her arms from around her knees and dramatically flopped back down onto her beach towel. She was covered in tanning oil, and Krillin was powerless to stop his eyes from roaming freely across her body, which was clad by nothing but her skimpy blue and white stripped bikini. "Since when do I say things I don't mean, Krillin?"

She had a point there.

"I just never thought…. That anyone would feel that way about me. Especially somebody like you."

"What do you mean someone like me?"

"You're perfect."

"Pfft.." 18 scoffed. "Hardly." She was about as broken as you could get. "I'm-" she paused, as a different thought struck her. "What did you think the last five months were then? If you didn't think I loved you?" she asked curiously.

"No, no, it's not like that!" Krillin jumped to his own defense, knowing where 18's thoughts were headed. "It's not like I thought you were using me or anything! I guess deep down, all this time I knew you must have had some kind of feelings for me, maybe not love right away, cause you know…. You barely even knew me, but some sort of attraction at least."

"And?" 18 prodded him to continue.

"It just threw me to actually hear it." Krillin said, and followed it up with a deep sigh.

"Well I did," 18 closed her eyes and propped her hands up behind her head, trying to appear aloof, "and I do. But if you're going to freak out on me every time, don't expect to hear me say it again any time soon."

There was a thick silence between them for a minute, while they both digested this strange and sudden turn of events. "Shit," Krillin eventually said, and repositioned himself so that he could lay on his stomach right beside 18. "I'm sorry," he looked at her with his big puppy dog eyes and a sheepish grin. "I didn't mean to ruin the moment. I know it must have taken a lot of courage for you to say that. I'm sorry I made it all about me."

"It's not a big deal."

"But it is," Krillin suddenly pepped up and took 18's hand in his. "It's a huge deal! You love me! You," he shook his head in awe, "love me! Say it again!"

"No." Suddenly 18 was feeling very self-conscious.

"Please?"

Damn him and those big dark eyes. She couldn't say no when he looked at her like that. "Fine," she sighed and rolled her eye dramatically, but the playfulness in her voice was telling a different story. "I love you."

This time instead of panicking, Krillin leaned in towards 18 and placed a soft, lingering kiss on her lips. "I love you too," he said as they parted, "and I promise not to freak out next time you say it.

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Heh," Krillin kissed her again, happy to take full advantage of the fact that they had the entire island to themselves for once. "Okay, fair call. How's this then. I promise to try not to freak out next time you say you love me."

18 gazed up at Krillin. Her expression was soft and tender, this vulnerable side to her was something that only he ever got to see. He knew 18 loved him, of course he did, the look in her eyes was proof enough of that, but to hear her say it, and so out of the blue like she had; it had lifted a weight off of Krillin's shoulders that he hadn't even been aware he was carrying. An entire life's worth of doubt and insecurities – evaporated into thin air just like that. It felt amazing.

He was most definitely going to freak out next time 18 said she loved him. And every time she said it for the rest of his life. How could he not?

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one! If you did, I'd love to hear your feedback in a review. I read and appriciate every single review, favourite and follow, it really means a lot to me, so thank you!

See you soon for the next prompt!

D.B


	11. Oh Christmas Tree

A/N: It's prompt time again, and since it's that time of the year this, it's a Christmas one! The prompt for this one was: OTP are decorating the christmas tree when person A playfully puts the star on person B's head. It was so cute of an idea not to whip up a little something, so here it is. Hope you enjoy it, Merry Christmas, and please leave a review if you liked it!

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 **OH CHRISTMAS TREE**

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"Krill, what are you doing?"

The sound of his wife's voice startled Krillin, and he shot up, bumping his head against the low roof of the cupboard under the staircase and earning a snort of laughter from 18.

"I'm just," he rubbed his head as he turned around. That had actually really hurt. Stepping out of the cupboard, Krillin looked up at 18, who was standing on the staircase above him, peering down over the bannister with a big grin on her face. "I'm looking for the Christmas tree," he disappeared back inside. "Roshi has so much crap stuffed under here though. I'm definitely making him sort this mess out after the holidays."

"Uh-huh" 18 jogged down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She'd heard that line before. Every time they needed to find something under there, Krillin swore he was going to make the old man turf some of it, but he just never had the heart to ask him to part with his stuff, even if it was nothing but junk.

Eventually, between them both, they managed to drag out the dusty old Christmas tree box without everything else collapsing on top of them, and assemble the tree in its usual spot in the corner of the living room.

"You know," 18 began, and Krillin rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what was coming next. "I don't understand this whole Christmas tree thing. I mean-"

"It's not even real." Krillin cut 18 off before she could finish her sentence and then quickly threw his arms up across his face, blocking against the cushion 18 hurled directly at him. He caught it with ease and threw it straight back at her with just as much force. "A real one would be nice, but pine trees don't exactly thrive in the tropics, babe. Master Roshi made us, Goku and me, bring him one once, when we were kids, after we nagged him about it for weeks, and it didn't end well." Krillin chuckled as he thought back on the fond childhood memory.

"What happened to it?"

"It humidity killed it more or less straight away. We came down from bed the next morning and the poor thing was all brown and wilted. So then we got ol' plastic here," he patted the tree, "and it's been going strong ever since. We must have had this tree for…. at least 15 years."

18 eyed the sad looking tree up and down, it was missing its fair share of branches, and the ones that still remained were all bent and poking out in strange directions. Years of being either stuffed haphazardly in the closet or sitting in the blazing tropical sun had caused the plastic foliage to fade from what was presumably once upon a time, a bright and vibrant green, to a dull and lacklustre off-white, greenish kind of mess. "You can hardly tell," she said with a sarcastic grin.

"Aww babe," Krillin darted across the room and back into the cupboard. "Don't be like that," he said when he re-emerged holding a plastic tub full of decorations. "Not all of us can look as flawless as you when we're naked." Krillin waggled a silly eyebrow at 18 and shook the tub. "She just needs to get dressed, that's all!"

Plonking the tub down in the middle of the living room, Krillin yanked the lid off and peered inside. The first thing he felt wasn't the joy and excitement usually brought on by his favourite time of the year, but rather an all-consuming sense of dismay. He could already see the smug I-told-you-so look on his wife's face without even looking up at her.

Reaching in, Krillin lifted up an absolute tangled mess of lights, tinsel and long strings of beads. "Oolong…" He glanced up towards the pig in questions bedroom with a clenched fist and the look of death in his eyes. "He promised me he put this stuff away properly last year."

"Oh, c'mon, it's not really that bad." It really was that bad, but 18 could see the upset on her husband's face and decided that she'd already poked enough fun at him. Krillin loved Christmas, and 18 loved making Krillin happy, so even though Christmas spirit was something she didn't really understand, for him, she was willing to try.

She dropped to her knees, took the jumble of wire and glitter from his hands and began the tedious task of untangling the knot while Krillin sorted through the remaining decorations in the tub, tossing all the broken ones aside.

The going was slow, but a little while later, 18 had untangled enough of the knot that she now had a complete set of fairy lights. Krillin had migrated to the other side of the room, and had just hit play on the CD player, piping sickly sweet Christmas music into the house, when a lasso of fairy lights dropped over his head and onto his chest. Behind him, 18 laughed, as if she couldn't believe she'd actually managed to get him on her first try.

"I bet you couldn't do that again," Krillin challenged, as 18 reeled in the lights, dragging the still trapped Krillin across the room and down onto the floor beside her.

"I don't need to do it again," 18 replied as she shuffled herself into Krillin's lap. Their foreheads pressed together and as she leaned into him, 18 produced the tree-topping star from behind her back and placed it proudly on top of Krillin's head.

"Hey!" Krillin laughed and reached for a ribbon of tinsel. He wrapped it around both of their necks, like a giant, itchy, double scarf. "Two can play at that game you know."

"Well in that case…" 18 didn't miss a beat, and dug two glittery baubles from the plastic tub beside her, draping them one each over Krillin's ears, giving him a pair of oversized Christmas earrings. Laughter filled the room as they took turns covering each other in increasingly more elaborate decorations, until the plastic tub was all but empty, and there was barely an inch of free skin to be seen between them.

As far as Krillin was concerned, Christmas had just come and gone, and he'd been given the best gift of his entire life. They could stuff the dusty old tree back into the closet right now, and he'd be happy just sitting on the floor, tangled up in the mess of decorations with his perfect wife. "I love you," he smiled against 18's lips as he kissed her. His heart fluttered when he felt her smiling back, he would never, ever tire of her love. Everybody always said that 18 was cold and brash, he'd heard the term 'Ice-Queen' thrown around more than once when his friends spoke about her, but they truly had no idea. No idea just how warm and affectionate and funny and loving she could be. No idea of the lengths she went to too cheer him up when he was feeling down. No idea of how effortlessly she brought out the very best in Krillin.

"I love you too," she replied, as she pushed his scruffy black hair up off his face before kissing him again, more firmly this time, as if it were the only way she could think of to truly express how she felt. Words may not have always been 18's strong suit, but she always made sure that her husband knew exactly how she felt about him. "Should we dress the tree?" she asked as they parted.

18 felt Krillin's hands creeping under her shirt and up her back. "To be perfectly honest, I'd rather undress you," he replied, sending a shiver down 18's spine when his lips found their way to the sensitive spot on her neck. She made no attempt to stop him as one by one, he removed the ornaments he had covered her in, kissing each patch of skin he revealed as he went.

The Christmas tree could wait until tomorrow.

.

* * *

.

A/N: So I hope you enjoyed this, I thought it was pretty cute personally, and I'm happy with how it came out. Feedback is always appriciated though. If you would like to follow my writing adventures, find your way to my tumblr on my profile page. That's the place to go if you want to submit your own prompt ideas to me, and to interact with not just me, but an entire amazing community of K/18 and DBZ lovers.

Until next time,  
Big Love

D.B.


	12. Sniffles

_A/N: I didn't realise it had been almost four months since the last prompt was uploaded. My apologies for that, I'll try for it not to take so long in the future. But I do hope that you enjoy this one. It was fun to write. This prompt was inspired by Episode 84 of Dragonball Super where 18 sneezes and wonders if she is getting a cold. I took the idea and ran with it._

 _ **.**_

 _ **SNIFFLES**_

 _ **.**_

 _Ah-choo._

"Bless you."  
"Thank you."

 _Sniff._  
 _Sniff._

 _Sniff sniff._

"Babe?" Krillin tipped his head to look towards 18. She was stretched out on the sofa, Marron curled up against her chest, sound asleep, and there was a warm blanket tossed over them both. It was a heartwarming sight to the young father. "Are you coming down with something?"

"No," 18 scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, I don't get-" _Aaaaaah-choooo_. 18 was cut off from the end of her sentence by another sneeze.

"Uh-huh." Krillin grinned, feeling rather pleased with himself. He swooped across the living room, grabbing the tissue box on the way, and plonked himself down on the sofa beside 18. Without a word, or even defeat-admitting eye contact, 18 snatched a tissue and blew her nose. She didn't argue when Krillin pressed the back of his hand against her forehead. "You're a little bit warm," he said, his brow furrowing in sudden concern.

"I'm fine," 18 brushed him off while trying desperately not to sniff again.

"You're not," Krillin pushed back. While it was true that it was extremely unusual for his wife to get sick, it was by no means impossible. She had been unwell during her pregnancy with Marron, and had suffered a bout of food poisoning after a dodgy dinner cooked by Yamcha a few years back. Sure, she may have never picked up the common cold before, but up until a few years ago, they had lived on a very remote island, far away from people and their germs, in the middle of a warm tropical ocean. Of course she wasn't going to catch anything all the way out there.

"Why have you always got to make everything so difficult?" Krillin smiled warmly at his wife and kissed her on her clammy forehead. "You're sick," he tucked some hair back behind 18's ear. "Admit defeat."

"I will do no such thing." 18 sniffed loudly again, which she had to admit, considerably weakened her rebuttal. But still, she wasn't ready to concede just yet. "How on earth would I even catch a cold? That makes no sense, Krillin."

Krillin frowned. "Now you're just being stubborn," he said. "We we're out in the freezing rain all afternoon. Or have you already forgotten about that in your fever induced delirium?"

It had been one of those days today, with one strange turn of events after another. First, Goku and Gohan had shown up while Krillin was at work, then they managed to convince both himself and 18 to enter into the mysterious 'tournament-of-power'. From there, Krillin had managed to ring-out Gohan in a practice spar, and teach Goku a lesson about the power of teamwork. Krillin's body wasn't as young, or as forgiving, as it used to be though, and the aches and pains were beginning to set in now, but he was still floating on Cloud Nine after the fights. He'd never imagined that a day would come where he'd be able to say that he had been victorious against a Saiyan! Now, though, to end this unusual day on a sour note, it really did appear as though 18 was starting to come down with something.

Marron stirred in 18's lap and Krillin gently ran his hand over her soft blonde hair. Hopefully none of 18's germs would be passed along to Marron, because she was absolutely her mothers' daughter and the only thing Krillin wanted to be dealing with less than one sick and stubborn Chestnut woman right now, was two sick and stubborn Chestnut women. "I'm going to go and run you a warm bath ok? And don't even bother trying to argue with me, because I will pick you up and carry you in there myself if I have to." Krillin smiled and trotted off towards the bathroom.

18 sighed and kissed the top of Marron's head. She was starting to feel a little congested, not that she was going to admit it.

 **...**

"Bath's ready."

18's eyes fluttered open, although she was 100 percent positive that she hadn't fallen asleep. The first thing she saw was Krillin's face hovering above her own. He looked properly concerned now. "18," he knelt down beside the couch and gave his wife a quick once over. It was highly unlike her to doze off like that.  
"I'm fine," 18 answered his question before Krillin could even ask it. "Stop fussing over me."

"Never." Krillin smiled. He stood up and lifted Marron out of 18's lap, placing her down gently on a big, soft armchair and tucking the blanket around her. She never even stirred. Turning back to his wife, Krillin didn't give her a chance to protest before scooping her up into his arms.

"What are you doing?" 18 asked, but she didn't complain. Instead she draped her arms around Krillin, nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck and sighed contently.

The bathroom was warm and steamy. Krillin had spared no expense for his wife's comfort. Candlelight gave the room a soft orange glow, and there was a stick of incense burning. It was eucalyptus, Krillin explained, as he placed 18 down on a stool and lifted her shirt up over her head, apparently it would help to clear her sinuses. He had set up his phone to play relaxing rainforest sounds. Birds singing, a crashing waterfall and the roll of distance thunder echoed through the room.

"I hope it's not too warm." Krillin said, and reached around 18, expertly unclipping her bra and dropping it into the clothes hamper. He tilted her chin up toward him and gently kissed her.

"You didn't have to do this, you know," 18 said, but there was no stubbornness in her tone. She didn't protest any further as Krillin helped her shimmy out of her jeans, leaving her sitting naked on the bathroom stool. It was probably the warm, dark bathroom that was making her feel so sleepy all of a sudden, not her budding illness. Nevertheless though, she let Krillin lift her into the warm bath, and did have to admit that the warm water, the incense and the calming ambiance of the rainforest sounds was making her feel very relaxed. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the feeling of weightlessness.

Krillin squatted down to sit on his heels, and rested his forearms against the rim of the bath. For a moment, he just watched 18, she looked so peaceful in the flickering glow of the candles. So perfect. If this were any other day, he would've been fighting back the urge to climb in there with her.

"I'm going to go and lay out some pyjamas for you, soak in here for as long as you want, and then hop straight into bed. I'll bring you some medicine when you're ready."

"Alright," 18 was feeling worse by the minute, and she no longer had the mental energy, nor the desire to pretend to argue with Krillin.

 **...**

"How's this one, Papa?" Marron held a blob of chicken mince in her hand, proudly showing it to her daddy.

"It's great, firefly," Krillin took the lump of chicken from her and quickly finished rolling it into a smooth, round ball. "You're sleeves are getting all dirty though, here" he leaned over and rolled the sleeves of Marron's jumper up to her elbows. "All better. Now where were we?"

"Makin' feel better dinner for Mama!" Marron chirped and picked up another chunk of chicken, which she attempted to roll into a ball. Meanwhile, Krillin was busy chopping up vegetables, and pressing out dough to make noodles.  
"That's right," he said with a smile. "Thank goodness I've got you to help me!"

A happy smile beamed across Marron's face. She surveyed her handiwork. A dozen or so meatballs that varied in size from tiny to enormous, but which were each full of love. "I hope Mama feels better soon," she said, her little voice brimming with concern, "so she can play hide and go peep with me."

Krillin chuckled. Trunks and Goten and taught her that game, and it had become somewhat of an obsession since then. It wasn't unusual for him to have to seek out his daughter from her favourite hiding spots thirty times a day. "I'm sure Mama will play with you when she's feeling better, firefly."

Seemingly content with that answer, Marron let it go. "What are you doing now, Papa?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I'm making mama's soup," Krillin replied as he slid the meatballs, vegetables and noodles into a pot of broth. "Wanna help me stir it?"

Marron jumped up and down on the chair she was standing on, hardly able to contain her glee at being charged with such an important task. "Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Alright," Krillin hoisted Marron up onto his hip and handed her the spoon to stir the soup that was starting to simmer on the stovetop. "But you gotta be careful okay? It's hot."

"Alright, Papa."

 _Aaah-choo_

Surprised by the sudden noise, both Krillin and Marron turned to look over their shoulders to see 18 standing in the doorway, quietly watching them. She was dressed in her warm pyjamas and slippers, and her hair, still damp from the bath was tied up in a knot on top of her head.

Marron's face fell into a frown. "Mama," she began, her voice stern, "why aren't you in bed?"

Krillin had to turn his face away to hide his snickering as Marron gave 18 a thorough telling off. She was a funny kid, obviously she got that from her dad. He turned back toward 18 just in time to see her expression change from shocked amusement into faux disappointment. "I'm sorry, Marron," she said, "but whatever you're cooking out here smells so good, that I just had to come and investigate." It did indeed smell delicious, which 18 found surprising to say the least, considering both her chefs this evening had no noses and therefore very limited senses of both smell and taste.

"Mama doesn't listen does she?" Krillin said to Marron, shaking his head. Her put the small girl down and sent her into the lounge to watch cartoons for a little while, before turning his focus back to his ailing wife. "Why don't you listen?"

"I feel better after the bath."

"No you don't."

18 didn't fight back as Krillin pushed her down the hallway towards their bedroom. He pulled back the covers and dutifully, she hoped into bed. Krillin disappeared for a moment, and when he returned he had the tissue box, a big glass of water and a packet of cold medicine with him. He popped two capsules from the packet and along with the water, handed them to 18 who swallowed them down like the good patient she was, or at least was trying to be.

"How do you feel?" Krillin sat down on the edge of the bed and took 18's hand in his own. "Really?"

"Tired and stuffy," 18 admitted.

"Please, promise me you're going to rest." The look in Krillin's eyes was one of genuine concern for his beloved wife. But there was more to it than that. "The tournament starts the day after tomorrow and I know you didn't believe that nonsense Goku was spouting about it being just for fun."

18 sniffed and Krillin handed her the tissue box. She blew her nose before replying. "Not for a second," she said. "Something bad is about to happen. Why would he want to invite 17, someone he's never met, if the stakes are as low as he says? Something is definitely going on."

"I agree," Krillin's voice dropped to a whisper, he didn't want Marron to accidentally overhear their conversation and start to worry. "That's why I need you to rest, okay. Please," he almost begged. "I don't know what's going on exactly, but I think we're about to walk into something big and I need you at full strength. If anything were to happen to you…" he let the end of the sentence hang between them. It was to awful a thought to put into words. "I just…. I couldn't…."

"I promise I'm going to rest," 18 squeezed Krillin's hand firmly. "And you know these things never affect me for very long. I'm sure I'll be fine by the morning."

That was true, Krillin had to concede. Her morning sickness with Marron had lasted a week at most, and that food poisoning had been and gone within a matter of hours, unlike the days it had wreaked havoc on Krillin's digestive system for. It did seem as though when it came down to it, 18's body was quite good at getting rid of things that weren't meant to be there. But still, Krillin wasn't taking any chances. There was too much on the line.

"Alright," he said, and leaned in and kissed 18. A shiver ran down his spine when he felt her smile against his lips. He couldn't even begin to put into words how much he loved this woman. "Let me fuss over you tonight, even though I know how much you hate it," he smiled. "And we'll reassess in the morning."

"Ok," 18 sighed. She couldn't say no to her husband. He was kind and sweet and caring and his concern for her welfare came from a love that was so deep and pure. 18 knew how lucky she was to have him. Krillin was the best husband and father in the world and she loved him more than she had even been aware that it was possible to love someone. She was grateful to have someone like him looking after her when she wasn't feeling well.

Plus she really wanted some of that soup.

 **...**

A/N: Well there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this little prompt, and I would really love to hear your feedback on what I'm doing right and wrong!

If you'd like to submit your own prompts or follow my writing adventures, please come and join me on tumblr! (link in my bio) we have a lot of fun over there, and we always enjoy getting to chat with everyone!

Until next time,

Big Love  
Deadly Beauty


	13. The Night Before

A/N: Prompt time once again, and this time it's about everyone's favourite brother, 17! I was thinking about 17's invitation to the Universe Survival Tournament, and I thought, 'he's probably gonna need to tell his wife and kids about that' so this is that story. It was nice to write and I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Please let me know what you think.

 **.**

 **THE NIGHT BEFORE**

 **.**

The smell of a good, home cooked meal wafted over the breeze as 17 set down at the end of his long driveway. His stomach rumbled in anticipation, it had been another bland week of only tinned beans and stale bread. The parks department really knew how to take care of its front line workers, that was for sure. 17 smiled, happy to be home at last. He pulled a wad of junk mail out of the letterbox, giving it a firm shake to dislodge any spiders, before beginning the long trek towards the house.

"Papa!" two little voices greeted 17 the moment he pushed open the creaky old door and stepped into the warm, cozy kitchen. He wasn't even fully inside the house before he had two newly turned three year olds firmly attached to his legs, their dinner now a distant memory.

"Hello, monsters!" he tousled each toddlers hair, before prying them off his legs and hoisting them up onto his hips, giving them each a kiss on the side of the head. "I hope you've been good for your mum while I've been at work."

"Of course they haven't, the little terrors," 17's wife, Amya, chimed in over her shoulder from the other side of the small kitchen, where she was watching over a pot of stew as it bubbled on the stove.

17 tutted, and shook his head, looking at each toddler with faux disappointment. "C'mon guys," he said as he lowered his son first, and then his daughter back down into their seats at the dinner table and rolled their sleeves up to their elbows. "What did I tell you about being good before I left?" He turned his attention to the third child at the table, his four year old son, Onyx, and squatted down to rest on his heels beside him. "Have you at least been good?" he asked. Onyx smiled brightly and nodded his head, sending hair flying wildly in all directions. 17 laughed and kissed the boys head as he stood back up. Onyx, 17 truly believed, wasn't capable of so much as thinking a negative thought, let alone being naughty. The kid didn't have a bad bone in his body. He may have had his father's dark hair and blue eyes, but his kind, gentle soul was all his mothers. Speaking of…

"Has it been six days already?" Amya asked, as 17 finally turned his attention towards his wife. He paused for a moment to take her in. There was a playful grin stretched over her pretty face and her bright green eyes sparkled as she laughed, highlighting the smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose. She was dressed casually in jeans, a dark blue teeshirt and her slippers and her vibrant red hair was secured atop her head in a messy knot. She was the most beautiful thing 17 had ever seen. "I was quite enjoying the peace and quiet without you here to hype the kids up all day long."

"Shut up," 17 laughed, and leaned in to kiss Amya. She kissed him back eagerly in return and wrapped her arms around his waist, despite the fact that he was covered in a weeks' worth of dirt and sweat and smelled accordingly. 17 let himself sink into her embrace. He worked a grueling roster of six days duty on the island, and then three days off at home with his family, and he always missed them fiercely by the end of his working days. His sassy and vivacious wife especially.

"I did miss you," Amya snuggled in and tucked her head up underneath 17's chin, not ready to release him from her bear hug just yet.

17 smiled a true and honest smile, and kissed the top of Amya's head. "Missed you too," he nuzzled his face into her hair, and inhaled her familiar scent. He couldn't imagine not ever being able to come home to this again.

It was feeding time at the zoo, and as 17 parted from Amya, he could only describe the scene around him as utter chaos. The kitchen was hot and noisy. Aside from the terrible twosome, twins Storm and River, whose sleeves had both somehow managed to slip back down their forearms and were now dripping in stew, and Onyx, who were all laughing and shrieking with happiness as they hurled chunks of bread at each other, there was a TV blaring and two enormous dogs were guzzling down their dinners too, scraping their bowls noisily across the floor with their snouts as they tried to clean out every last morsel, before they moved on to try and scavenge from the kids.

It was madness, but it was home. 17 had been lying to Goku when he had said he wouldn't care if all of this were to suddenly disappear. He'd care very much, and he was going to fight with everything he had to stop that from happening.

"Would you like some stew?" Amya asked, waving her ladle in front of 17's face.

The loud grumble that came from his stomach seemed to answer for him, and Amya turned to fetch a bowl, but 17 stopped her. "In a minute," he said, the sudden low and concerning tone in his voice let Amya know he had something on his mind. "Let's go into the other room."

The living room connected through from the kitchen, and so was only slightly less noisy. The two dogs, having finished their dinners, followed along behind their owners and plonked themselves down in front of the fireplace. They wouldn't move again until bedtime, when they would each pick a child's bed to curl up at the end of for the rest of the night.

Amya, sensing 17's out of character uneasiness, took hold of her husband's hand and looked him in the eyes. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Did something happen at work?"

17 laughed to himself, the absurdity of the last 24 hours was almost beyond belief. "You could say that," he said. "I had a visit from an old acquaintance of mine, for starters."

"Who?" Amya's face scrunched up in concern. Instinctively, she turned around to check that all three of her babies were still safe in the kitchen. "Was it someone bad?" she gasped as her imagination took off, "Gero?!"

"No." 17 put the brakes on that train of thought. "No. I stomped that motherfuckers head into the ground ten years ago." The vision of him putting an end to Gero's worthless life flashed through 17's mind and he smirked victoriously, until Amya burst his bubble, telling him off for swearing within earshot of the kids.

"So what happened then?" she asked.

"A man named Goku came to see me. I've told you about him before. It was actually pretty good timing, because a pack of space poachers showed up right behind him and he was pretty useful in helping me return all the animals they stole back to the park."

"Space poachers?"

"It's a long story."

17 didn't stop Amya as she reached out to run her soft hands all over his weary body. She poked and prodded, squeezed, and pressed her fingers against him, feeling for any signs of illness or broken bones with the deftness of a skilled professional. Of course, he was fine, but 17 had missed her touch and he let her carry on with her assessment for a moment, enjoying the sensation of their bodies connecting. "I'm fine," he eventually said. "The poachers, not so much, but that's beside the point. Goku told me about a tournament that's being held tomorrow. He needs me to go and fight. It's important."

The subtle change in Amya's demeanor as she processed the news of the tournament would have gone completely unnoticed by just about anyone else. But not 17. He saw the way her lips pursed ever so slightly, and her nostrils flared at their edges. He was aware of the dilation of her pupils, and the sudden rise in her heartrate and blood pressure.

"A tournament?" she asked. The metered and measured tone of her voice was the final clue 17 needed to accurately read his wife. His prediction had been right. She was not impressed.

"Yeah," 17 said, treading lightly. "Tomorrow. In the afternoon."

"No," said Amya after a moment's thought. She stepped away from 17 and crossed her arms over her body.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no. It's not happening. You're not going. Forget about it."

"I already said yes," 17 pushed back. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'too bad, it's already done' but Amya was having none of it.

"I don't care 17!" She yelled, even surprising herself with her sudden angry tone. She quickly contained her frustration so as not to alert the kids to their parents feuding. "I don't care what you said to some stranger, before you even thought to consult with your wife. I don't care what he said to you. I'm saying to you right now, that I'm saying no. You're not going."

17 sighed. He knew what Amya was trying to do, and he loved her so much for her efforts, but now just wasn't the time. "Listen," he began, the serious business tone was back in his voice. "I know that you're trying to protect me from the past, I do, really," 17 stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her close against his body, until there was no space between them. "And I love you for it. But this isn't about the past. This is about the future. If I don't go tomorrow…" 17 hesitated, he didn't want to say the words out loud, because then this whole thing would become true. He kissed the top of Amya's head, and squeezed her just a little tighter. "If I don't go tomorrow, this could all go away. Everything I've ever cared about, you and the kids, it could all just disappear. And honestly I don't know if my being there will make a difference or not, but Goku seems to think it might, and even if it doesn't, I have to try."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Amya pushed herself out of 17's arms, and spent a long and confused moment just staring at him. She pressed her palm against his forehead, but there was no sign of fever. "Did something fall on your head at work?" she asked, "you're not making any sense."

"I know, and trust me, it gets a hell of a lot more convoluted than that. I'm not even sure I understand it all properly. You know that there are a lot of things in this world that don't make sense, right?"

"Things like Cell?"

"Exactly," 17 shuddered at the mere word. "Things like Cell, and Dragonballs and the fact that I can fly, or get run over by a tank and walk away without so much as a scratch. This is one of those things. You just gotta trust me when I say that this is something I gotta do."

Amya exhaled deeply, in an attempt to expel all the negative emotions from her body. 17 had been away at work for almost a week, she should have been excited to see him. Instead, she found herself feeling sick. Turning away from her husband, Amya shook her head and let herself fall back onto the sofa, where she took a few long, deep breaths while she attempted to collect her thoughts. 17 stood silently, waiting, listening to the sounds of the crackling fire, the dogs snoring and his children getting into mischief in the next room. The sounds of his home. He was determined that this would not be the last time he heard them.

"Why do you have to go?" Amya eventually asked. She looked up and locked her bright green eyes onto 17's blue ones, hoping to find the answer there, but 17 was a master at keeping his emotions at bay, it was so hard to read him. "What makes you so great?"

17 cracked a smile. "Where should I begin?" he asked. The smile morphed into a cheeky smirk and Amya hurled a cushion at his head. He caught it and tossed it back down where it belonged. "It won't just be me. My sister and Krillin will be there too, and others. We're all doing our part."

"My husband, the hero," Amya replied, her voice oozing with sarcasm.

Heh. If only she knew. 17's heart ached to tell his beloved wife the entire story, but what was the point? And where would he even begin? Amya was a smart lady, she had spent years slogging away at school to become a veterinarian, and after that, getting her master's degree in Zoology. And just last year she had completed her PhD studies in savannah cats, while somehow juggling three kids, a full time job and a husband who was only ever home for three days at a time. She was amazing and 17 was inspired by every part of her. But still, even for someone who knew about his unusual life story, and was more in the know about the true goings on of the world than the average citizen, this was some next level shit.

How to explain to someone that their entire universe, everything they had ever known to exist, 13 billion years of evolution – was all just part of some much larger multi-universe picture? And that looking over those universes was an all seeing, all knowing, omniscient god who viewed their very existences as nothing more than a game.

How did he explain that when he left tomorrow to fight in this tournament, that he would be leaving the universe entirely? That it was being held in the forebodingly titled 'World of Nothing' and that 17 would be fighting against not only the strongest warriors he could imagine, but the strongest warriors he couldn't. Enemies that he couldn't even dream of, from worlds he would never know, with powers that he would never be able to predict or fight back against?

And even if he could find some way to eloquently tell this story, which he didn't even entirely understand himself, it would do his family no good. If their universe was to end tomorrow, it would be over in less than a blink of an eye. One moment they would exist, and the next moment they wouldn't. It would be a painless transition. Telling Amya the truth would do nothing but ensure her last remaining hours were filled with terror instead of joy. No. This was a burden that 17 would carry alone.

17 shook his head and flopped down onto the sofa. He threw his arm over Amya's shoulder, trying his best to act casual, and not like there was a giant, nervous knot twisting itself up in his stomach. She resisted at first, trying her best to stay mad at him, but quickly relented and let 17 pull her into his hug. "I just wish you wouldn't do things like this without talking to me about it first." She said, as she stared into the hypnotic, glowing embers in the fireplace.

"Aww, c'mon now, you don't mean that. You didn't complain last time I did something without asking."

"That was different, 17!"

"How so?"

"Because last time you did something without asking me, it was bringing home abandoned newborns! You were hardly just going to leave them to fend for themselves in the wild, were you? You're not a monster."

Those last few words really struck a nerve with 17. For the longest time, he _had_ considered himself to be a monster. An abomination born by the hands of a madman, designed to be nothing more than bait for the most horrific evil the world had ever known. That had been his only role in life, and he had fulfilled it dutifully.

He'd come a long, long way since those dark days. Back then - 17 shuddered to think - back when he was struggling with identity issues and fighting to find his place in a world where he really didn't belong, he'd hate to think what he would of done if he came across those abandoned, screaming infant twins. He'd probably have left them to their fate, out in the freezing winter rain, without so much as a second thought.

But that was the old 17, and old 17 wasn't someone that new 17 was really able to relate to anymore. Now that he was a husband, a father, a contributing member of society, he struggled to understand his old ways.

"And look how that turned out," 17 smiled and craned his neck to catch a view of the cheeky toddlers, who were making a mess all over his beautiful, painstakingly handcrafted kitchen table. "Adopting them was one of the best things we've ever done." He turned back to Amya who, despite her best effort not too, was smiling.

"Do you really have to go?" Amya sighed. "The kids and I get so little time with you. They've been waiting for you all week. I've been waiting for you all week."

There was a suggestive tone to his wife's last sentence that piqued 17's attention. He looked at her with a curiously raised eyebrow, and asked, "Is that so?" It was certainly a problem he had every intention of remedying at the very first moment of opportunity. Leaning over, 17 placed a soft kiss on Amya's lips. He could feel her tongue seeking permission to enter his mouth, but he pulled away instead. There would be time for that later. "I'll be home in time for dinner tomorrow, I promise."

"Fine." Amya's shoulders slumped as she admitted reluctant defeat. She knew her husband, and there was no point arguing with him. 17 needed to be able to make his own decisions in life, his ability to exercise his own free will was one of the main ways he was able to separate the past version of himself from who he was right now. Plus he was as stubborn as an Ox and when 17 had made up his mind about something, arguing would only result in him digging his heels in even further. It was hard to win an argument against someone who could just fly away when they weren't getting their way. And over the years, Amya had learnt to just accept the fact that her husband was somewhat of a free-spirit, and sometimes he just had to do what he had to do, and there would be no warning or explanation. If nothing else, it kept her life interesting

"Hey, monsters!" 17 called over his shoulder, breaking the tension between himself and his wife and effectively putting an end to their quarrel. "Get your butts in here!"

The children were only too happy to abide by their fathers request, and a moment later, 17 and Amya heard the hectic shuffle of little feet on floorboards, and they braced themselves for what was headed their way. Three little torpedo's hurtled towards them, and launched themselves up onto the couch, all fighting to be the first to claim the prime position up on 17's lap.

"Now, now," 17 said with a laugh, "there's enough room for everyone." With well-practiced skill, he shuffled the trio around so that he had a twin on each leg, and Onyx awkwardly sitting between them. He wrapped his arms around all three children, in a big bear hug. Closing his eyes, 17 took a deep breath, inhaling their scent and imprinting the feeling of having all three of his children in his arms firmly in his memory. Even in death, he would not allow himself to forget this feeling.

He wasn't entirely sure what tomorrow would have in store for him, but there was one thing that 17 was certain of. Whether they ever knew it or not, 17 was going to do his family proud. He was going to prove to them, and too himself just how far he had come. By giving his absolute all at the tournament to end all tournaments he would finally, officially close the book on his past of chaos and destruction.

Tomorrow, Android 17 was going to help save the world.

.

A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this one! I'm always taking prompts over on my tumblr, so follow me there if you'd like to see your own prompt here one day! Already working on the next one, so hopefully I'll be back soon with the next prompt!

Big Love  
D.B


	14. Damaged Goods

A/N: New prompt time lovelies! Hope you all enjoy it, even if the content is a little bit sad this time around, I'm happy with the way this came out, it wrote its self really. Visit me at my tumblr page to submit your own prompts and follow my writing adventures.

 **...**

 **DAMAGED GOODS**

...

It was the middle of the night when the blankets were suddenly torn off of Android 18, exposing her nearly naked body to the cold night air. She was dazed and still half asleep, and failed to notice the fist careening towards her until in thumped her in the collarbone.

There was a significant force behind the attack, it hurt, and 18 retaliated automatically, snatching the wrist of the perpetrator out of midair and clenching it in her dangerous grasp. It happened in less than a second, and as the rest of 18's senses caught up to her in the dark room, she realized that something wasn't right.

"Krillin?" she let go of his arm and the small man immediately pulled away. His body was thrashing wildly as he tossed and turned, and he cried incoherent nonsense into the dark. "Krillin!" 18 said again, with more urgency. She reached out to nudge his shoulder, but he swatted her away, accidently managing to backhand her across the face as he did.

Enough. After flicking on the lamp on the bedside table, 18 realized she was left with no choice but to take matters into her own hands. Krillin had been possessed by a demon and it was going to be up to her to perform the exorcism. She wasn't going to let herself get attacked a third time, that was for sure. She climbed over Krillin, straddling his thighs and immobilizing his legs, before pinning his arms down over his chest. "Krillin!" she used her remaining free hand to lightly slap his face, "Krillin, what's going on?!"

Krillin's eyes shot open and he inhaled with such violent force that come morning, his ribs would hurt. "Ahhh… whaaa…" for the first few seconds his body jumped into protection mode and he tried to attack, but he was unable to move, fuelling his fear even further. It took another agonizingly long three or four seconds for his vision to come into focus. For him to realize that he was safe in his bedroom, and that it wasn't a monster pinning him down, it was 18.

Sweet, beautiful 18. Who was staring down at him with a mixture of confusion, concern and fear etched across her pretty face. She opened her mouth to say something, but before even a single word had left her lips, Krillin shot up.

He sat up and threw his arms around 18's body, clinging onto her with almost as much force as he was able to. Their height difference and the fact that she was still sitting on his legs meant that his face was pressed up against her naked chest, but the current situation was about as far from erotic as a situation could get.

"18…" Krillin managed to splutter through his panting. He was gasping for air with the desperate urgency of someone who had just engaged in a life or death battle. The gasping soon gave way to crying. Huge, wracking, soul crushing sobs – the likes of which 18 had never encountered. Krillin's entire body shook as he wept loudly and openly against her. She could feel his tears rolling down her breasts, dripping off her nipples and splashing onto her thighs.

So far out of her element was 18, that her entire body tensed up. She was not used to such overt displays of emotion, either positive or negative and she had no idea how to act, or what words to say that might make Krillin feel better. She wasn't even entirely sure what had just happened, since everything had unfolded so quickly. Two minutes ago, she'd been sound asleep. Eventually, she reached up and placed her hands on Krillin's back, rubbing them up and down in what she hoped was a soothing gesture. It must have been, because Krillin started to retreat from his hysteria shortly thereafter. His fingers, which had been digging so tightly into her shoulder blades, started to relax, and the ferocious beating of his heart finally began to calm.

"I'm sorry." Finally, Krillin pulled away and wiped at his face with the back of his hand. "18, I'm sorry. I was having a nightmare." He paused for a moment, closing his eyes so that he could focus on his breathing. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. Just the same way he did when he was meditating. The rhythm was soothing and familiar. "You shouldn't have had to see that. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," 18 said, she felt like she needed to add more, but what exactly, she had no idea. So instead of saying anything, she simply took Krillin's hands in her own and gave them a gentle squeeze.

Krillin sighed deeply. Disappointed didn't even come close to how he was feeling right now. His soul was crushed. He was hollow and empty and scared and humiliated and angry at himself for being so stupid. He'd just ruined everything, he was sure of it. 18 wouldn't want to stick around with him now. Not now that he'd revealed he was clearly a basket case. Lifting his heavy eyes, Krillin finally worked up the courage to look at 18, dreading what he was going to see. Repulsion, most likely. A look he had seen a thousand times before, and knew all too well, but which still stung every time.

But he was wrong.

"It's okay," 18 reached up and brushed some hair, which was damp with a combination of sweat and tears, off of Krillin's forehead. In her eyes, he only saw concern and kindness. "It's alright."

Relief flooded Krillin's system. He was suddenly exhausted and let himself collapse forward against 18. With his cheek pressed against her chest, and his arms loosely wrapped around her waist, he sighed again and closed his eyes. Everything was okay.

When Krillin's eyes next opened, it was morning. He didn't remember falling back to sleep, but he must have, because now, bright sunlight was pouring in through the open window, blinding him with its warm glow. The first thing that Krillin noticed upon waking, was that his head was pounding. He had a thumping headache, and the back of his throat felt like he'd been existing on a diet of nails and sandpaper.

The second thing he noticed was that he was alone. It was hardly a surprise, but still, it stung. He'd been half hoping that 18 may have taken some kind of pity on him, and hung around long enough for him to at least try and explain what happened last night. But he could hardly blame her for running.

Krillin lay in bed for a few more minutes, staring at the ceiling and berating himself, before his need for water became too overwhelming and he was forced to get up. Begrudgingly, he climbed out of bed, pulled on his shorts and headed downstairs. Water didn't help. Even as he forced the fourth glass and a handful of paracetemol past the razor blades in his throat, he knew it wouldn't make him feel any better. The damage had been done. Perhaps some fresh air would help to wake him up.

It was only a few steps across the living room from the kitchen to the front door of the Kame House, and Krillin was still bleary eyed and half asleep as he made the trek. It made the surprise he got as he stepped out onto the small porch all the more surprising.

"18?!" he half stammered-half yelped, well and truly caught off guard by her presence. "What are… what are you still doing here?"

18, who had been sitting on the steps gazing out to sea, turned to face her weary companion. "I didn't realise I was required to leave the minute the sun came up," she replied coolly.

"No, no, that's not it." Krillin instantly felt like a fool. Why did everything that came out of his stupid mouth have to be wrong? Was it really too much to ask to just even one time, be suave? He stepped off the porch and onto the beach, turning back to face 18 and digging his toes into the warm sand. "I just thought… what time is it?"

"Almost noon."

"Almost noon?!" Krillin was the type of person who was usually up with the sun. It wasn't uncommon for him to oversleep by an hour or two after he had an episode like last night, but to sleep until noon? That was unheard of. No wonder his neck was stiff and his mouth tasted like a foot. "You should have woken me, I'm you're host, I should have made you breakfast or something."

"I'm perfectly capable of operating a toaster, Krillin," 18 replied. "And look," she held up a mug. "Tea. I made this myself too. Aren't you proud of me?"

"That's not what I meant 18," Krillin really didn't need 18's sarcasm. He already felt bad enough as it was. "I'm sorry. Thank you for staying. When I woke up alone," Krillin's voice was heavy and he couldn't bring himself to look 18 in the eyes, instead choosing to direct his focus at his feet, "I thought for sure I was never going to see you again. I wouldn't have blamed you, y'know? I know we haven't been doing this for very long, no one would expect you to have to deal with what happened last night. I'm so sorry you had to see it."

Even though 18 was mildly insulted by the fact that Krillin seemed to think she completely lacked any kind of concern or empathy for him, she chose to let it go. For now anyway. Because the fact of the matter was that she _was_ concerned for him, and that last night had rattled her as much as it had him. She took a long and thoughtful sip from her cup of tea. "Has that ever happened before?" she eventually asked.

Suddenly, Krillin found himself faced with somewhat of a dilemma. Did he tell 18 the truth? That this was a problem the plagued him almost every night? Or did he brush it off as a strange one off and beg to which ever god might be willing to hear his prayer that he could somehow get on top of this?

On the one hand, 18 was here with him right now. She'd seen what had happened last night, and she was still here, and it seemed like she was genuinely interested in helping and supporting him. And even more than that, she hadn't freaked out in the moment. She had provided Krillin with comfort and stability – which she had been under no obligation to do, given the circumstances.

Which brought him to point two. This relationship was still brand new. So new, in fact, that it hadn't even officially been labeled as anything yet. 18 had only spent the night a handful of times, on the weekends when Roshi and Oolong headed to the mainland. What they had right now was fragile and delicate and needed to be carefully nurtured so that it could hopefully grow into something deep and meaningful. Throwing this spanner into the works might make 18 realise that falling in love with Krillin was just going to be too hard. That he was too broken and she should just wash her hands of the whole thing now before she got herself in to deep.

"It's… not a problem," he went with the lie, and instantly hated himself for it. "That's never happened before."

18's dropped her head, casting a dark, ominous shadow across her eyes. Why was Krillin lying to her? He may as well have been totally transparent for how easy it was to see through him when he wasn't being honest. With her, or with anyone else for that matter. Krillin just wasn't built to lie.

"Really?" she asked, giving him one last chance.

"Really."

Alright, if he wanted to do this the hard way, 18 was willing to play. She looked up at him, giving him one last chance to confess, but he remained stoically silent. Okay then. "You hit me last night, you know?" 18 dropped her power card. "Twice."

She watched as Krillin's usually tanned skin took on an unnatural shade of green. She could practically see the wave of nausea roll though him, and his stomach drop down into his pelvis. He began to quiver and sweat as a panic attack started to take hold. The reaction was even more dramatic and visceral than 18 had anticipated and she instantly regretted baiting him like that.

"N….no," Krillin said, stuttering over his words, "N-never. I would never hit you."

"You did," 18 held her cool, despite how difficult it was to watch Krillin breakdown. She sensed that the only way to get him to truly open up to her about last night was going to be with brute force. "Look." She pulled aside the neck of the teeshirt she was wearing to reveal a not-insignificant bruise on her collarbone, and held it long enough to ensure that its image was well and truly burned into Krillin's memory. "And here too," she continued, pointing to a small scratch on her cheek. "I was asleep, and you attacked me."

Tears begun to form at the edges of Krillin's eyes. He tried his best to rub them away, but more replaced them. His heart was beating in his chest like a freight train thundering along the tracks, all the meditation in the world wouldn't be able to calm him now. "18," he managed to say, before everything started to spin around him. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, lost amongst the blaring sirens of the panic, he could hear 18 telling him to 'breath okay? Just breathe' but her words held no meaning right now. Krillin staggered, through the growing fog, down to the shoreline. It was June, and even though winter in the tropics wasn't exactly cold, the water still stung like icy needles as he waded in, until the sea was swimming around his knees, and plunged his entire body under. The shock reset Krillin's brain, dissipating the panic that had been baring down on him, threating to push him over the edge into full blown delirium. Krillin forced himself to stay underwater until his lungs were burning for air and he was completely incapable of thinking of anything else besides the desperate need to breathe.

By the time he had resurfaced, and trudged out of the ocean and up the beach, 18 has been inside and was now standing back out on the porch, holding a towel. She tossed it to Krillin, and he gratefully wrapped it around his dripping frame.

"Shall we try again?" 18 asked, as she settled in once again on the steps and took another sip from her tea. The coolness in her voice belied the guilt she was feeling inside over the distress she had just caused her companion. She could only hope that it would be helpful in the long run. "Are you ready to tell me the truth now?"

Krillin shuddered, and pulled the towel tighter around his shoulders. He looked at 18, who was looking back at him. Their eyes met, and he just couldn't figure her out. "Okay," he nodded and sat down beside 18. She didn't even move away when the sea water that was still dripping from Krillin's shorts pooled beside her and started to stroke her leg with its icy tendrils.

"Have you had dreams like that before?"

Krillin nodded slowly, he was lost in his thoughts. His gaze was focused somewhere far out at sea, on nothing in particular. "My entire life," he replied. "I started having them as a kid, at Orin Temple. The other students and the monks there beat the ever living hell out of me. Every day. For nine years. Until I finally got up the courage to do the least brave thing I could do and run away."

18 didn't say anything. She already knew that, of course. Her data bank on not just Krillin, but basically everyone she knew, was extensive and detailed, but she'd always been able to push it aside as fiction. Just a made up story that Gero had planted there for some fucked up reason, to mess with her. But to hear the words directly from Krillin's mouth made it real. Heartbreaking. She had come to know Krillin over the past year for who he truly was, and that was a kind, honest, gentle and humble man. The thought that anyone could ever see him as anything less, or worse, lay a single finger on him filled her with both sadness and rage in equal parts. 18 didn't see it now, but in years to come, she would look back on her life and realise that this was the moment she knew she wanted to keep Krillin safe forever. This would be the moment that she truly fell in love with him.

"Can you imagine your very first memories being nothing but terror? It doesn't exactly set you up for a healthy adulthood."

18 almost laughed at the irony of Krillin's question. "Yeah, I can actually," she replied, and allowed herself a little smirk as she watched Krillin's face turn as red hot as the sun.

"Fuck." He looked over at 18, surprised to see somewhat of a grin on her face. "I didn't even…. Of course you can…. I'm such an idiot, I'm sorry."

Without a second thought, 18 reached over and gave Krillin's forearm a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "Go on," she urged him.

"I don't even know what to tell you 18. Should I talk to someone about this? I mean, yeah, probably. But who? Who the hell am I meant to go to and say, I was bullied as a kid by monks, then I ran away and was killed by a monster not once, but twice, but it's okay, because I got _wished_ back to life both times – because that's totally a thing that happens. And then there was another monster, and despite the fact that by this point I had put years and years of my life into becoming strong, I was still useless and had to stand by and watch as innocent bystanders got eaten by said monster, who then killed my best friend and emotionally ruined his 11 year old son. Also, I look like this! If I were a shrink and I walked into my office, I'd lock myself in the looney bin and throw away the key!" Krillin ranted, unleashing what was probably a life time of pent up frustration on poor 18. He stopped to take a breath before he continued. "So yeah, I've been dealing with this shit on my own for a while now, and the nightmares, and the anxiety, and the self-hatred, the fear, the mood swings, the avoidance, I'm sure it's all part of that. But at this point, I'm beyond repair."

"You are not."

"I shouldn't be alive 18! I should have died as a stupid 17 year old kid. I did die as a stupid 17 year old kid. Tambourine… he snapped my neck. I can still feel his hands crushing me sometimes," a shiver ran down Krillin spine and without even realizing, he lifted his hand to touch his throat. "There's a lot of pressure to make something of yourself after people have literally moved heaven and earth to wish you back from the dead. I've always carried that around with me, and I've always felt like I've failed the gift I was given. I trained so hard in between coming back and ending up on Namek 18, like, you have no idea. I'd never been more grateful to be here and my mind was clear and focused. I was as strong as I'd ever been. I almost killed Vegeta you know. And then once we finally found ourselves up on Namek, it all just went to shit again. Frieza, that bastard. I guess something good did come out of him killing me though, it meant that Goku was finally able to ascend to Super Saiyan, but fuck, what does that say about me if the only way I was able to be useful was by exploding? People put so much faith in me, wishing me back, and I just went and died again. And then those idiots wished me back a second time! And I just let them down again by being useless against Cell!"

"You weren't useless against Cell," 18 blurted out, startling Krillin, who in all honestly, had forgotten she was even sitting beside him. "You saved me."

"I didn't save you! I was the reason you got absorbed. It was my fault that Cell became perfect. It's my fault Goku is dead. He loved me enough to revive me twice and I let him die."

"You did no such thing."

"I did!" Krillin argued, his voice begun to quiver as his emotions once again started to bubble up inside of him. Usually, he did whatever he possibly could to avoid talking or thinking about this, because it always ended with him having a panic attack, but there was no avoiding it now. "If I had just pressed that remote-"

"If you have of pressed that remote, Krillin, then I wouldn't be here." 18 cut Krillin off mid-sentence. "You spared me. And who's to know how things would of unfolded if you had of pressed it, anyway. Gero was evil, but he was smart. For all you know, he had a backup plan for if something happened to 17 or I. Things could still have unfolded in exactly the same way. You are not to blame for what happened with Cell. You're not a failure."

"D-do you really think that? Or are you just trying to make me feel better?"

18 picked up her mug and cradled it in her hands. She took a long sip, finishing the tea. She swished the last gulp around her mouth, pondering as she did. "I have them too, you know," was her eventual response. "Nightmares."

"Really?" Krillin's eyebrows shot up in surprise, although he realized that it shouldn't be that surprising at all. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything you've been through, 18. It's not fair for me to unload all of my garbage you, when you've had it so much worse than me." Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, Krillin buried his face in his hands and groaned. "I've ruined this, haven't I?" he asked

"No." was 18's short reply.

Krillin peeped through a gap in his fingers to reveal 18 staring at him. She wasn't wearing her usual cool and aloof expression anymore, but something kinder, warmer. Krillin had a feeling he was the only one who got to see this softer side of her. He dropped his hands away from his face. "No?"

"No."

A moment of stillness fell between the pair, as they took some time to collect their thoughts. It was comfortable and familiar as they sat side by side in silence, listening to the gentle ebbing and flowing of the ocean as it rolled up onto the shore. Krillin closed his eyes, breathing in and out, slowly, rhythmically, until his mind was as calm as his surroundings. It was 18 who eventually spoke first.

"It'll be your turn soon enough." Her hand skimmed over the porch until it found Krillin's and she gave it a squeeze.

"My turn for what?"

"For you to see me have a nightmare. If I'm still welcome to spend the night, that is."

Krillin blushed, and 18 smiled. It was the most adorable sight, to see the fluster race up his cheeks. "Course you are," he mumbled. 'Every night, for the rest of my life, forever' he added in his head.

"Alright then," 18 nodded. They weren't looking at each other, but when Krillin stole a glance from the corner of his eye, he could see that 18 was smiling, and not that she would ever admit it, but it looked like he wasn't the only one whose cheeks were a little bit flushed right now. "We make a good pair, you and I," she said. "We're both damaged goods."

"There's nothing damaged about you. You're perfect." The words had spewed from Krillin's mouth before his brain had a chance to intervene, and this time, there would be no way for 18 to deny the colour on her face.

"Yes, well," she chose to ignore Krillin's little proclamation for now, and pushed on with what she'd been trying to say. "That's debatable, but the point remains that I think we can help each other with this."

"How so?"

"Just by doing this." 18 shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't much of a plan, really, but it was all she had right now. She'd make the rest of it up as they went along. "You say you have no one to talk to about this stuff, well now you do. Talk to me." Out of nowhere, a wave of bashfulness washed over 18, and she found herself feeling somewhat shy. "If you want to…" She wasn't used to the feeling of putting herself on the line like this, and it hit her out of nowhere – the realization that she very much wanted to be the person that Krillin confided in when things just became too much to deal with on his own.

"You really think we can do this?" Krillin asked. "Fix each other?"

"I do." 18 nodded

A smile spread across Krillin's face. It wasn't much, but it was something. Somewhere to begin, at least. Maybe with 18 beside him he could finally take the first, baby sized steps towards moving on from a lifetime of heartbreak and trauma. And maybe in turn, he could help her do the same. "Alright," he agreed. "Let's do it."

Maybe 18 was right. Maybe, one day, they really were going to be the best team ever.

 **...**

A/N: That's it for now guys. Until next time, keep on loving K/18 as much as I do! Back soon with a new prompt (which I think will be a NSFW one!)


	15. Easy Like Sunday Morning

A/N: This was my entry for K18 Week 2017 over on Tumblr. The prompt topic was "Morning Ritual" and I really enjoyed coming up with this one. There were a few other prompts I wanted to do, but didn't have time during the week, but I think I'll still do them, because they were really cool prompts. But in the meantime, I hope you like this one.

.  
 **Easy Like Sunday Morning**  
.

He was trying his best not to make a sound.

18 buried her face into her pillow to hide her fond smile, lest she give herself away. She lay still as Krillin slowly rose, stretched his arms to the ceiling and stood up. He slid his feet into his slippers, carefully remade his side of the bed and slipped out of the bedroom, unnoticed.

Or so he thought.

This had become somewhat of a tradition. A morning ritual if you will. 18 rolled onto her side, watching the door her husband had just left through, and begun counting down the minutes until he would return. It would be exactly thirty. Underneath the covers, her hand reached out towards the warm patch of bed Krillin had just vacated. It was already growing cold.

He would sneak out of bed at 7.30 on the dot, every Sunday morning. He didn't have an alarm to wake him, he just seemed to know. Downstairs, he would commandeer the kitchen, shooing away Roshi and Oolong who were already awake, and get to work. Every Sunday morning it was the same, a small stack of pancakes with a pot of syrup on the side, some fresh fruit, eggs – sometimes poaches, sometimes scrambled, bacon, toast, a glass of freshly squeezed orange and pineapple juice and a pot of tea. He would reappear in their bedroom at precisely 8.00am, a tray laden with his mornings work balanced in his hands. He was careful to never spill a single drop.

The bed was warm, and 18 snuggled in deeper, pulling the blanket all the way up to her chin and tucking her legs up beneath her. Sleeping in wasn't so bad, really. She wondered why she was always so reluctant to let herself give in to such a small creature comfort. Every other day of the week, she was up shortly after dawn. Her eyelids begun to feel heavy.

Outside the door, the old staircase creaked, and a moment later, Krillin gently nudged the bedroom door open with his foot and let himself in. How long had 18 closed her eyes for? She could swear it was only a minute or two.

"Good morning my love," he said quietly. 18 noticed the small wrinkles that were beginning to show around his eye whenever he smiled. They were cute, she noted, as she sat up to receive the tray Krillin was about to hand her. She knew this routine well.

"Good morning to you too." 18 accepted the tray and watched her husband closely as he moved about the room, pulling open the curtains and opening the window. A warm breeze carried in the salty scent of the ocean and 18 inhaled deeply. It smelled like home.

Krillin slid back into bed beside his wife and swooped in for a kiss. His mouth caressed 18's with equal parts passion and tenderness. It was a long kiss, lingering and sweet, and 18 felt a pang of sadness strike her when Krillin eventually pulled away. She loved the way he kissed her. It made her feel alive in a way that nothing or no one else ever could.

"Where should we begin?" Krillin asked, and 18 wanted to suggest that they throw this whole feast out the window and pick up where they had just left off. But instead, she picked up a pancake, folded it in half and dunked it in syrup before biting into it.

"Good choice." Krillin smiled and followed his wife's lead.

They ate in silence for the most part, the gentle whooshing of the ocean rolling in and out against the sand was the only soundtrack they needed. 18 sipped on her tea and nibbled on a few slices of fruit, and Krillin polished off the rest of the feast. Whose breakfast was this meant to be, anyway?

"So," Krillin licked the last remnants of sticky syrup from his fingers and removed the empty tray from between them. "How was it?"

"Wouldn't know," 18 shot back playfully, and shrugged her shoulders. "You ate most of it."

"It's not my fault you're a slow eater."

"Life's not a race, Krillin, some of us enjoy taking our time. Isn't that what Sunday mornings are for?

"You're not wrong." 18 didn't stop Krillin from wrapping his arms around her and sliding them both back down the bed. He pulled the blankets back over them and kissed the top of 18's head and she snuggled herself in against Krillin's chest. "This is exactly what Sunday's are for."

18 sighed and closed her eyes. She could feel Krillin's heart beating, it was slow and rhythmic, hypnotic almost. If the roles had been reversed and it had of been Krillin listening to her own heart, he would have been able to hear it pounding, like a racehorse about to be let out of the gates. She tried her best, using the slow breathing and meditation techniques Krillin had taught her, to steady herself, but it was no use. Her body was not programmed to be this close to another human being unless it was for a fight.

"I love you."

Krillin's sweet voice and the feeling of him gently squeezing her, redirected 18's train of thought off the unpleasant path she had been about to venture down and back to the present.

"I love you too," she replied. It wasn't something that she said very often, words weren't exactly her strong suit, and certainly never when anybody else might be able to hear. But something about this this lazy Sunday morning, cocooned in her husband's strong embrace was making her feel all emotional.

To say that Krillin was a good husband would be like saying Mount Everest was just a hill. 'Good' didn't even come close to encapsulating everything about him that made him so uniquely him. He was kind and funny, smart and loyal, handsome and brave, and above all else, he loved 18 with a ferocity so intense that she could almost feel it radiate of off him. Everything he did, he did with the sole purpose of making 18 happy.

Like breakfast.

When exactly the tradition had started, 18 couldn't remember. But she knew it was long before they were married, or even before they were officially dating. When she had first come to live on the island, in the spare room, of course, Krillin had begun to leave trays of food outside her door in the morning. She never really ate much of it – that part hadn't changed, but she had always appreciated the effort nonetheless.

As their relationship had evolved, so too had the breakfast routine. From leaving it outside the door, to Krillin bringing it into 18's room, to him sitting at her desk and chatting while they shared it together, to sharing it in his room, to now, sharing it together in their bed, as husband and wife. Sunday morning breakfast had been a constant of their relationship right from the beginning.

A sudden dull thump in 18's abdomen reminded her that their relationship was soon going to be changing again. She lifted her head to catch Krillin's eyes, which were beaming with delight. "Did you feel that?" she asked

"I did!" Krillin pressed his warm palms against 18's ever so slightly bulging stomach, hoping for some more movement. "She's going to be a cheeky one, our girl."

A grimace washed over 18's face. "It might be a boy you know," she said as another powerful kick struck her from the inside. It was a strange sensation, one which even now, almost seven months into her pregnancy, still managed to catch her off guard. "He sure feels strong like his daddy."

"It's not." Krillin shook his head, he wasn't budging on this. "It's a girl." There had never been any doubt in his mind that he was going to have a daughter. "It's a girl, I'm telling you," he repeated, and laughed when 18 raised a teasing eyebrow in his direction. "It's a girl and she's going to have your blonde hair and my dark eyes. I'm one hundred percent certain."

"Whatever you say," 18 conceded smugly, and returned her head to Krillin's chest.

What would their lives look like when they were no longer just a couple, but a family, 18 wondered, as she began to drift back towards unconsciousness. When their secret gang of two became a party of three. She wouldn't have to wait very long to find out, but for now, 18 was content to bask in the warm morning sun, curled up against her husband in their big bed. Whatever they had planned for beyond this perfect moment would just have to wait.

.

A/N: This was my entry for K18 Week 2017 over on Tumblr. The prompt topic was "Morning Ritual" and I really enjoyed coming up with this one. There were a few other prompts I wanted to do, but didn't have time during the week, but I think I'll still do them, because they were really cool prompts. But in the meantime, I hope you like this one


	16. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

A/N: Sorry it's a few days late guys, but here is my Christmas 2017 addition to the prompt collection. Hope you like it! 

**Santa Claus Is Coming To Town**

18 was about five minutes away from pulling every single one of her hairs from her head. Rudolph the bloody red nosed Reindeer had been playing on a near continuous loop for hours now, worming its way deeper and deeper into her brain, and the temptation to send a discreet little energy ball in the direction of the iPod dock was becoming harder and harder for the blonde to resist.

"Again, mama! Again!"

No sooner had the closing bars of music died away, was Marron demanding 18 start it back up again. Somebody at day care had had the audacity to teach her child a dance to go along with the carol, which included jumping, stomping, clapping and pretending to be both a reindeer and Santa Claus himself. All the things that four year olds just couldn't get enough of.

It had been adorable the first dozen times, and cute the next ten. Now though, 18 was wracking her brain trying to find the most diplomatic way to put an end to this torture without breaking Marron's heart on Christmas Eve.

Thankfully, a pair of headlights turning into the driveway, and beaming into the living room saved the day. It was a true Christmas miracle.

"Papa's home!" Marron raced across the room, scrambled up the couch and peeked her head through the curtains, waiting not so patiently for the first glimpse of her daddy as he climbed out of the car. Similarly, 18 dove across the room as fast as lightening, and yanked the power cord of the docking station from the wall socket before Marron had a chance to notice.

Marron watched through the window as Krillin trudged across the lawn, his path illuminated by the harsh glow of the motion activated spotlight. Fresh snow was falling from the sky. It was deep, and clung half way up the small man's legs.

"Papa!" Before Krillin had even managed to close the front door, Marron had launched herself at him. She latched onto his damp legs, clinging as tightly as her little arms would allow.

"Hey there, firefly!" Krillin pried Marron from his calf and lifted her up to give her a proper hug. She pressed her face into his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. "How was your day?" he asked, as he placed Marron down and began the process of unbuckling and unlacing his police boots. Wearing them any further into the house was strictly forbidden.

Marron took off. "It's tonight, papa! It's tonight! Santa is coming tonight!" She could barely contain her excitement as she leapt around the room, jumping along the couch, across the armchairs and back again in a totally joyous frenzy.

This was the first year that Marron had really been 'into' Christmas. It had been easy for her parents to avoid the commercialism of the holiday when they had been living on a tiny speck of sand in the middle of no-where, but now there was no escape. Living in a big city, Santa, and Christmas in general, was around every corner. And Marron, being four and surrounded by the magic of Christmas for the first time, was eating it right up. She was obsessed.

Outwardly, Krillin and 18 expressed disdain that their child was being exploited by such blatant consumerism, but on the inside, they were both almost as giddy as Marron was, seeing her get so thoroughly and completely swept up in the season. It was an absolute joy to see their child this happy, even if that happiness was expressed through listening to the same song on repeat five thousand times over.

"Stop climbing all over the furniture please, Marron," 18 stepped in as the voice of reason. Krillin may have been able to be tough when it came to crooks and thieves, but when it came to his daughter, he was putty in her hands. Completely and utterly incapable of scolding her, or bringing her under control when she was over excited.

"Sorry, mama," Marron slunk down the couch and looked sheepishly from one parent to the other. "Will Santa still come?"

18 nodded, unable to completely hide her smile. "I'd say so," she said, "But only once you're sound asleep, so why don't you go and put your pyjamas on and brush your teeth. It is well and truly past your bed time, young lady."

Dutifully, Marron trotted off towards her bedroom, and 18 was finally able to turn her attention to her husband. "How was your day?" She asked.

Krillin crossed the living room with a tired smile on his face. "Long," he replied. Now close enough to touch, he pulled 18 into his arms and stretched up on his tiptoes for a kiss. 18 ducked her head, more than happy to oblige. "People are idiots at the best of times, but the holidays seems to being out the worst in everyone. I wrote thirty seven people up for traffic violations today. Don't people even think about the consequences of car accidents…." He trailed off, lost in his own sleepy thoughts. "All good now though, I'm home with you for the next three days and that's all that matters." Krillin finished off his sentence by leaning back in for another kiss.

Marron, having broken some kind of world record for the fastest time ever to get changed and brush your teeth, was back in the living room in the blink of an eye. Under normal circumstances, 18 would have sent her back to the bathroom to do the job properly, but tonight was a special night and one subpar tooth brushing effort wouldn't have any dire consequences in the grand scheme of things. She decided to let this one slide.

"Alright," Krillin clapped his hands together and grinned, "We need to leave out some treats for Santa!"

"Have you got your letter?" 18 asked, and laughed when Marron audibly gasped and disappeared into her bedroom. When she returned, she was holding a letter that she had very proudly written herself with only a little bit of help from 18.

"Show papa," 18 prompted, she smirked at Krillin as he was handed the letter, and he looked back at her with a curious expression in return. It was just a letter to Santa written by a four year old child, what could be so funny about that?

"Dear Santa," Krillin read aloud. "For Christmas I would like a baby sister-" he paused, felt his cheeks turn bright pink, and looked at 18, now fully understanding her amusement. Choosing to ignore her smugness for the moment at least, he continued to read. "I have been very good this year, and if I had a sister, we would have so much fun playing dolls together. May I also please have a new pony toy, and some colouring in books? Thank you very much, love Marron Chestnut."

"Well," Krillin cleared this throat to mask a nervous giggle, and knelt down on his heels to be eye level with his daughter. "Firefly, I don't think Santa is going to be able to bring you a baby sister okay? That's not exactly how that works." He glanced over Marron's head toward 18, who was enjoying being a spectator to this awkward conversation far too much for his liking. Krillin made a mental note to himself to get her back for that later. "How about we forget about that, but I'm sure Santa will have plenty of other wonderful gifts for you. You've been a very good girl this year, after all. Now," wisely, Krillin decided to change the topic of conversation. "Santa has to visit all the boys and girls in the entire world tonight, I bet that he is going to need a snack when he gets to our house. How about we leave out some milk and cookies, and some carrots for his reindeer?"

"Yes!" Marron jumped up and fist pumped into the sky, causing both Krillin and 18 to shake their heads in wonder. Where the heck had she picked that up? Her larger than life personality truly never ceased to amaze.

It was almost two hours later, after many stories, glasses of water and trips to the bathroom that Marron was finally asleep. It was hard to be angry at her when she was so, so excited for Christmas, but to say that her parents were relieved when she was out for the count, would be an understatement.

"I thought Santa was going to be visiting our house at four in the morning at the rate she was going," Krillin said, and took a long sip from his wine glass, finishing it off.

"You're telling me," 18 agreed, and refilled both of their glasses. No point in only drinking half of a bottle of wine, what a shameful waste that would be.

Neither Krillin nor 18 were particularly big drinkers, but Christmas Eve was somewhat of a special occasion in their house. It was the night, which felt like a lifetime ago, when Krillin had nervously bumbled his way through asking 18 if she would like to be his girlfriend, and she had even more awkwardly agreed. And exactly one year later, on the very next Christmas Eve, against the breath taking backdrop of a Kame Island sunset, Krillin had again fumbled his way through another nerve wracking question. One that involved a ring and getting down on one knee. This time though, there had been no hesitation at all on 18's part, and she had said yes a thousand times over before the words were even fully spoken.

And so on each Christmas Eve since, 18 had cooked them a special romantic dinner, which they shared over candle light with a bottle of wine. It was a tradition that hadn't changed in the almost 10 years that had passed since that first night, even though just about every other aspect of their lives was unrecognisable from the people they used to be back then.

Krillin pushed back his chair and stood up from the dinner table. He was a little wobbly, that wine had gone straight to his head and he laughed at himself. How unbecoming it was for an officer of the law to allow himself to get tipsy. How unprofessional indeed. "Dinner, as always, was delicious. Thanks babe," he said. There were no arguments on his behalf when 18, who was still seated at the table, took hold of the scruff of his shirt and pulled him towards her for a kiss. Her lips were hungry, and it only took a moment before her tongue was seeking permission to enter his mouth, but Krillin pulled away.

"Did you hear that?" he asked eagerly.

"Hear what?" 18's hearing was impeccable, she heard everything. She had not heard anything.

"I think it was Santa Claus."

18 didn't understand. "Santa Claus? Krillin, have you lost your-"

She was cut off mid-sentence by a finger pressed up against her lips. "Shhhh," Krillin was listening intently. His face a picture of stone cold seriousness. "I'm going to go and investigate. Don't. Move."

There was a glint of mischief in his eye that suggested to 18 that her husband was up to something, and so she was inclined to follow his instructions. She didn't move when Krillin disappeared down the hallway, or when she heard the familiar squeak of the back door. She sat, patiently, for at leave five minutes, waiting, wondering what in the hell was going on. Exactly how strong was that wine? They'd had more or less the same amount and she felt fine. Had Krillin been taking drugs at work?

The sound of rustling on the front lawn was what finally made 18 reach the end of her patience. Nobody came onto her property unannounced, especially when her child was sleeping only meters away. She stood up, prepared to fight whoever it was who came through the door next. 

"HoHoHo!" The front door handle jiggled and the door swung open, bringing with it a blast of icy winter air. "Meeeeerry Christmas!"

"What the…." 18 wasn't even able to totally comprehend what was happening in front of her. She stood up from the fighting stance she hadn't realised she had dropped into, and blinked, trying to make sense of the situation. "Krillin?"

"Krillin? No." The man, who was clearly Krillin, said. "It is I, Santa Claus, on my way to deliver gifts to all the good boys and girls of the world."

"You're an idiot."

Where on Earth he had managed to find a Santa costume that actually fit his stumpy little legs, 18 had no idea, but the fact remained that from somewhere, he had. Now, standing in the middle of their living room, was her husband, decked out in a jolly red Santa suit, complete with a full and luxurious fake white beard, and a big sack swung over his shoulder that looked about to burst open with goodies. So much for 18 being restrained with her gift buying in an attempt to stop Marron from becoming spoiled, because it appeared as though Krillin had gone out on his own accord and spent every cent they had between them on toys galore.

"What on Earth are you doing? You look ridiculous." 18 said, but the amused expression on her face suggested that truly, she was loving this entire thing. "Where did you manage to find a Santa suit like that?"

"It's amazing what you can buy on the internet, babe!" Krillin replied, dropping his Santa act. "C'mon, what if Mar were to wake up and see us just piling up her gifts under the tree. I don't want to ruin the magic of Christmas for her. Plus, let's not deny the obvious truth here, I look seriously adorable in this get-up, don't I?"

"Mmmm…" 18 mumbled a non-committed response, but when Krillin lifted himself up off the ground, and 18 found herself staring into his warm, dark eyes, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She wrapped her arms around his stomach and squeezed him tight against her body. Krillin WAS goofy, and he WAS silly, and that was exactly what 18 loved most about him. He refused to let 18 fall into the nasty old habit of taking herself too seriously. And the fact that he was so committed to keeping the magic of Christmas alive for their daughter was undeniably attractive.

"I don't know about this beard though," she reached up and rubbed the scrunchy polyester between her fingers, "I think I could do without that."

"You wanna know a secret?" Krillin whispered into 18's ear.

"What's that?"

"It's really itchy."

18 laughed, "Is that so?" she asked and tugged the fake beard down so it hung under Krillin's chin. "That's better. Now, about these gifts." 18 turned her attention to the sack that had been forgotten about on the floor, "It looks a lot fuller than the two hundred zenni we agreed we'd spend on her.

"Oh shush," Krillin said, dismissing 18's worries. She was right, of course. He'd gone out and spent double that and then some. "If a man can't spoil his girls on Christmas, then what's the point of life?!"

"That's a tad over dramatic, don't you think?"

18 reached for the sack, but Krillin leapt in and snatched it from her grasp before she was able to sneak a peek at what was inside. "Uh-uh-uh." Krillin tutted, and waggled his finger. "Only Santa Claus is allowed to look in here." He hoisted the itchy beard back up over his face and asked, "Where should I leave these gifts? I have lots and lots of stops to make tonight, you know, and I don't have any time to spare!"

This was all too much. 18 shook her head. "Over there," she pointed to the glittering Christmas Tree in the corner of the room. How had this become her life? She'd married an absolute clown.

"Ah, yes," Krillin sat down by the tree began to unload gift after gift after gift, stacking them nicely up under the tree. They were all beautifully wrapped with pretty paper, ribbons and bows, and all 18 could manage to think was that Marron was not even going to take one second in the morning to appreciate the effort that had gone into them. That paper would be off quicker than Son Goku's instant transmission technique.

"Oh, what's this?" Krillin pulled another gift from his sack, but this one was wrapped differently from all the others, in shiny gold paper that looked like it came from somewhere expensive. "This one has your name on it."

"Krillin," 18 frowned, and came to sit beside her husband. "We specifically agreed not to spend any money on each other this year." She realised, of course, as the words were coming out of her mouth, how ridiculous that sounded. There was no way, absolutely no way, Krillin was not going to buy her a gift. He was pathological in his need to spoil her.

Quickly, 18 decided not to be mad at her husband. Any gift that he had gotten her, he had done so out of love, and not some need to one-up her in the gift giving stakes. And besides, it wasn't like she too, didn't have a gift tucked away ready to give to him in the morning.

"Here," Krillin held out the package. It was a long, skinny rectangle shape and was heavier than 18 expected it to be. "Open it now."

"But it's not Christmas until tomorrow."

"Just open it."

"Alright," 18's fingers gently peeled back the tape from the gift wrap. She could tell that whatever was under here was special, and to just rip it open felt inappropriate. Underneath the paper, was a long box encased in red velvet, emblazoned with the insignia of 18's favourite jeweller.

"Krillin…" the rest of 18's sentence died away in her throat. Her eyes darted between Krillin – or Santa Claus – and the box. She knew this store, she walked by it every day on her way to drop Marron at day care. Never had she imagined a day would come where she would own one of the exquisite pieces that lived in the window though. She was almost too nervous to open the box.

"Here, let me," Krillin took the box back from 18, and lifted the lid. The gasp that came from his wife's lips was all the indication he needed to know he'd done a good job.

"Krillin…" 18 was genuinely lost for words. Inside the box was the most stunning necklace that she had ever laid her eyes on. It was a thick silver chocker style chain glittering with hundreds of diamonds and dotted with beautiful creamy pearls, and hanging from the centre of the chain, was the largest and most sparkly diamond that 18 had ever seen. "How…." She utter, as she reached out to touch the gift, "You shouldn't have done this, Krillin. It's too much. We can't afford this."

"Don't be silly." Krillin dismissed 18's claims. "I always told you I was going to replace that crappy, tiny diamond in your engagement ring with something amazing one day."

Looking down at the finger that housed said engagement ring and wedding band, 18 felt tears starting to well up in her eyes. "I really like my engagement ring," she said, "it's perfect. Small and cute, just like you."

"I'm not cute!" Krillin retorted. He placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest, "I'm strong and handsome!" He boasted, before dissolving into a fit of laughter at his own expense. He knew how ridiculous he looked right now in his Santa suit. "Do you like it?" he asked, once he had regained his composure. "The necklace? I can exchange it if you'd prefer something else."

"Never," 18 turned her back to her husband and scooped up her hair. Krillin understood what that meant and quickly snapped the necklace around her neck. Once it was on, 18 turned back to Krillin and smiled. "It's perfect. You're perfect. This night is perfect."

"I'm glad you like it. Although now that it's on your neck, it looks kind of plain in comparison." Krillin said, and realised in that moment just how desperately he wanted to press his lips against that perfectly soft, supple neck.

Which reminded him.

Diving back into his sack, Krillin found one last gift hiding in the bottom corner. Although some might say it was more of a gift to himself than anything else. He pulled out a small cluster of leaves that had been tied together with a piece of red ribbon and grinned victoriously.

"Is that what I think it is?" 18 asked, suspiciously.

"What do you think it is?"

"Mistletoe."

"Then yes, it's exactly what you think it is."

Krillin held up the slightly squashed and honestly, sad looking bundle of leaves above his head, and leaned in towards 18 for his kiss. But to his surprise, she planted her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

"Santa Claus, what would my husband think if he were to walk through that front door right now and see me kissing you?" 18 played. She twirled a loose strand of hair idly around her finger and bit down on her lower lip, going into full on flirt mode.

"I don't think he'd mind."

"Oh I think he would. He's very protective of me, you know."

"Ok, look," Krillin was so turned on now, his hands needed to be on his wife's body. With reckless abandon, he ripped the stupid scratchy Santa beard from his face, and along with the matching red hat, tossed it clear to the other side of the room, where it fell behind the couch to be forever forgotten. "Better?"

"Much better." 18 took the mistletoe from Krillin's hands and dropped it to the floor beside them. She flung her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his with a fevered passion. Krillin responded in turn, slipping his hands up underneath 18's shirt and unclipping her bra with well-practised precision. This was not going to be about romance, this was plain and simple, an act of passion.

"Wait, wait!" 18 halted. Already her chest was heaving as she panted for air. That had been an intense ten seconds "Not here. Let's go to the bedroom."

As hot as Krillin found the idea of taking 18 right here, he in his Santa suit, her in nothing but that necklace, on the living room floor, and find it hot he did, he knew it was a bad idea. 18 wasn't exactly known for being quiet during their bedroom escapades and the last thing Krillin wanted was for Marron to wake and be left with a lifelong mental image of Santa Claus defiling her mama. Their bedroom door had not one, but two locks on it for that very reason.

"Are you coming?" 18 asked, and Krillin blinked. 18 was already half way down the hall.

"Yes ma'am," he replied and scrambled quickly to his feet. In a moment of clarity he remembered the snacks and hastily shoved a few cookies into his mouth and skulled half a glass of milk. He didn't even like milk.

"Good," 18 called from the bedroom. "And bring that mistletoe with you."

Maybe Marron would be getting that baby sister for Christmas after all.

A/N: So there you have it my loves. I hope you enjoyed this one, I really had a fun time writing it! What would you like to see next in the prompt collection? Hit me up here via a review or a PM, or over on Tumblr at deadlybeautydbz and let me know!

I'll be back soon with more K18 goodness, so stay tuned!


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